Orisha Crossroads
by Wild-Tracks
Summary: One night Yuma and Astral retrieve a new Numbers card, 201, with unknown powers. But things start to get even stranger when Yuma wakes up to find Astral in a human body the next morning. Now, he has to find a way to keep Astral safe without endangering his friends and family in the process. A task made difficult with a Barian Tracker on their trail...
1. Chapter 1: Eshu

Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh Zexal, or any of the yugioh series for that matter.

* * *

Chapter 1: Eshu

"Number 201, Eshu the Trickster," Yuma muttered as he stared at the card he had just won. "I thought there was only a hundred."

"One-hundred Number cards and possibly just as many Over-Hundred cards. This one is an enigma." Astral agreed, floating next to him as he reached his home.

"Weird. Maybe this one's from earth?" Yuma suggested, mulling over the thought. It had occurred to him before that the Barian Over-Hundred cards may've had an original number of their own like Astral was for the Numbers. But not the idea of Earth having its own set.

"There _is_ some possibility, but I am more curious about what it can do. Our opponent never played it." Astral commented as he snuck into the house. Seeing the Number possessed man on the news, he had secretly slipped out to retrieve the card. Now it was well past midnight, and Yuma didn't want to explain what he'd been doing if he got caught by his sister or grandmother.

"Man, I'm beat." Yuma muttered as he reached his room. Luckily, it seemed that everyone else in the house was sleeping too heavily to hear him. "We can check it out tomorrow. For now, I'm blacking out."

"What is 'blacking out'?" Astral asked as Yuma fell into his hammock.

"It's when you fall asleep without effort." Yawning, Yuma muttered goodnight before his friend could ask another question.

* * *

'_It appears that Yuma has 'blacked out._'' Since he had nothing better to do while the boy slept, Astral retired into the Emperor's Key. Making his way inside the spaceship, he began searching for the new Number's seal. It took quite a long time, but he eventually came across a giant pipe blocking the entrance to a secret room. Floating past it, he found the card's pillar.

Glancing down at it, Astral noticed the Number wasn't a monster at all. It looked completely human. Briefly, a thought crossed his mind as his hand hovered over the pillar. '_I wonder what it is like, being a human…_'

The moment the card touched the pillar, something other than the usual blinding light struck him. His body suddenly fell very strange. But before he could register what was different, Astral felt a surge of fear flood his mind as his consciousness faded.

* * *

The sunlight stirred Yuma from his sleep, and for a moment he thought he was late for school. Then he remembered it was Spring Break. Sighing happily, he rolled over and snuggled deeper into his hammock, lazily prolonging getting up just so he could linger in the bed's warmth a little longer. Opening his eyes, he mindlessly looked around the room.

He started when he saw the strange figure lying on the floor with their back to him. Getting up slowly, Yuma stepped over them and looked the person over.

Wearing a white jacket over a pale blue shirt and grey jeans, the stranger had the same skin tone as him. A sense of familiarity fluttered within his mind. Yuma was going to push the feeling away until he noticed the person's hair. It was pure white and looked identical to Astral's…

'_Could it be..?_' Yuma knew it was impossible. The otherworldly spirit was too tangible to touch anything, let alone become a solid life form. But still…

A groan drew Yuma out of his speculation. He was shocked to see the boy's eyes when they flickered opened: The right was an _extremely_ pale artic blue, the left was a _very_ familiar luminous yellow.

"Astral?" The question slipped out like soap as he stared at the boy in disbelief.

"Yuma?" Astral asked, baffled. Sitting up, he suddenly released a terrible coughing fit.

"Astral! Are you alright?" Yuma asked, horrified.

"Yes," his friend finally managed to say. "I feel weird, though. Something is moving inside me. It keeps stretching my chest up and down."

"Stretching your chest… You mean your lungs? That's called breathing and it's perfectly normal." Hesitantly, Yuma reached up and touched Astral's face. He'd expected his hand to slide right through the skin, but it didn't. He was stupidly stunned to find it warm with life like his. "You're really human now, aren't ya?"

"I suppose. What is 'breathing'?" Astral asked, reaching up to touch his face in return. Amazement lite up Astral's face as his hand brushed across his cheek, feeling warm skin for the first time since coming to the human world.

"It's something your body needs to live." Yuma explained, smiling at how childish Astral was reacting to the sensation. It was so much like a kid or, possibly, a person returning to humanity after being raised by wolves. Somehow, it was just plain adorable.

"Oh," Astral replied. Yuma noticed he still had his tattoos or marking. He wasn't quite sure which was accurate, but he was more willing to believe they were birth marks. Unless energy beings were capable of having their bodies tattooed…

As for the gems, the ones on his head appeared to be attached to a very thin, almost invisible diadem, which wove strangely around his hair, while the rest were sewn into his clothes. The pair in his ears where pieced into them, making them look like giant studs.

Astral's heterochromia eyes fell to his sleeves. They lite up as he realized he was wearing clothes. "It appears I look like you now."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I have no observations to determine that," Astral replied as he looked himself over. "Nor did I thought myself capable of becoming human."

"What caused this anyway? Did you transform like the Barian do?" Yuma asked.

"I remember putting Eshu on its pillar, then…" Pausing, Astral's eyes narrowed as he struggled to recall what had happened to him afterwards. "I blacked out."

"Blacked out?" Yuma questioned.

"Blacking out is when you fall asleep without effort, you said. I assume I am using the term correctly." Astral said, looking at him quizzically.

Yuma sighed. "Well, if you were knocked unconscious, then maybe it was the card."

"The timing is-" A growl interrupted him. "Hm?"

"Wasn't me," Yuma denied as another, louder one cried out.

Astral looked down at his stomach. "I think it was me…"

"We should probably feed you-" Yuma suddenly remembered his sister and grandmother. If the Barian found out they knew about Astral, they might take advantage of them like they had done with his friends. The thought of that happening turned his stomach. "Um, I should check the house first and see if anyone's home."

Standing, he moved towards the hole in the floor. "Yuma?"

"Yeah?" Looking back, he saw Astral holding onto the hammock. While his bed strained to remain suspended, the otherworldly being was struggling to stand. His legs were wobbling like a newborn fawn. "My legs aren't working and I can't levitate."

Astral apparently didn't know how to walk. Or, for that matter, stand. "For the moment, just sit on the hammock. I'll teach you how to walk when I get back."

He gave his friend a reassuring smile before climbing down the rabbit hole. Taking his time, Yuma scouted all of the rooms in the house. Walking into the kitchen, he found a note:

_ Yuma! A major scope has popped up downtown! I had to rush out before I missed it! I'm dropping grandma Haru off at the renaissance center so she doesn't miss the Sakura Festival committee meeting this morning. Don't get into trouble while we're gone!_

_-Kari_

"What makes her think I'm going to get into trouble?" Yuma muttered, annoyed. Sighing, he tossed the note aside and ran back to his room. Climbing up, he found Astral standing on his own. Other than looking a bit shaky, he seemed to be doing well. "Do you think you can walk?"

In answer, Astral took a step without hanging onto the hammock. He stumbled through his first couple steps. Then, he caught enough balance to walk across the room and grab the rope suspending the ladder. There were still plenty of kinks to work out, but otherwise he did pretty well.

"Good job," Yuma praised, receiving a rare bashful smile in return. "Do you think you can walk down the hall?"

Astral was able to walk all the way to the kitchen with little assistance. The only exception was the stairs. With him still being new to walking, Yuma had held his shoulder as they climbed down the steps, ready to catch him the moment he began to fall. Luckily, that didn't happen. Nonetheless, the way Astral was holding onto the railing didn't hurt. Yuma was even impressed with how strong that new grip was. Astral's knuckles had been white the entire time.

Reaching the kitchen, Yuma sat his friend down and decided to cook them both French toast for breakfast, confident he could do it perfectly. Sadly, it didn't work out the way.

"Yuma? Are flames supposed to engulf the toast?" Astral asked at one point, his nostrils madly wrinkling at the smell of burning food. He had seen Haru and Kari cook before. Both were clearly better at it than Yuma was.

"Wahhh!" Yuma cried as the fire grew in size. Thinking quick, he grabbed the pitcher of lemonade from the fridge and dumped its contents over it. "Grandma's gonna kill me if she finds out."

"For wasting half a loaf or setting fire to the stove?"

"That was a new, expensive pan."

"Oh." Throwing away his idea of cooking, Yuma decided to give Astral a bowl of cereal to munch on while he cleaned up. As he did, Astral popped out a new question. "Yuma, what are we going to do if the Barian finds out about my 'transformation'?"

"I don't think they'll figure it out for a while," Yuma answered. "But I don't know what we'll do when they do. I'll call our friends and tell them what happened. Maybe we can figure something out."

"I thought everyone but Kotori left town for the Break?" Yuma paled. He had entirely forgotten about that.

"Well, we still have Kotori. I'll see if she can come over after breakfast."

"Try not to burn your cereal."

* * *

Durbe looked up from the meditation he'd been doing. "The Astral World's joker card has been found. Hamartia!" A man covered in a brown cloak with red and gray outlined flowers on it, hood hiding his features, appeared behind him. "Go to the human world. You know what I what you to do from there."

Without a word, Hamartia left.

-End of chapter one-

And there's the closure to my first official fanfiction! Just a heads up I've only just gotten back into watching Zexal again, so I may be off on some topics from the series.

But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it! :D Please feel free to review!


	2. Chapter 2: Rain and Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh Zexal, or any of the yugioh series for that matter.

* * *

Chapter 2: Rain and Fire

"Morning, Yuma," Kotori greeted when her friend opened the door. "I hope you're not pulling a prank."

"Of course not! Why would I joke about this?" Yuma retorted.

"I don't know. It's strange, though. If Astral could become human, why didn't he do it earlier?" She replied, setting down her umbrella as she entered. She found it rather ironic that Astral had discovered this ability during a rainstorm. If it was an omen, she was unable to faithfully call it a good one.

"We think it was the new Number we won last night," Yuma informed her as he led her into the living room.

"Are you sure it was the card? It might have been a coincidence…" Kotori stopped and stared. There, sitting on the couch watching Merlin, was a boy who looked remarkably like Astral. "Ah…"

"See the pickle we're in, now?" Yuma asked. His voice drew the solidified Astral's attention to them.

"Hi, Astral. How're you taking to being human?" She asked, shocked and awed to see the ghost-like being like this. Kotori couldn't help wondering if she was in a bizarre dream it seemed so impossible.

"It's fascinating. There is _so_ much to experience in this new form," Astral replied elatedly. Standing, he walked over to where they stood.

"I was afraid he would fall down the steps earlier, but his balance has really improved." Yuma told her. His smile quickly fell into a worried frown however. "I don't think he's ready for running, though. Which will be a problem if the Barian find out before he is. Dueling might be a problem now, too."

"I'm sure I'm ready to run, Yuma. And dueling won't be a problem with our telepathy." Astral's eyes squinted at him in irritation. She had thought he was wearing a D-Gear up 'til now because they were two different colors. Even though she found them a bit creepy, she now understood his mismatched eyes were completely natural.

"Yuma has a point for once," Kotori cut in before Yuma had the chance to spit fire at Astral. "And you're separated from the key now, right? Doesn't that mean you can leave Yuma's side and wander around if you wanted to?"

Both boys looked at each other, comprehending the possibility for what appeared to be the first time. Astral was the first to speak. "I can now, can't I?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Kari and Miss. Haru will be delighted to meet you-" Kotori didn't finish her sentence. She suddenly remembered neither of them knew about Astral. "_How_ _are_ we going to explain this to your grandma and sister, Yuma? We can't exactly take him to school. He doesn't have any records."

"We can't leave him here either. They'll eventually get suspicious." Yuma heaved a frustrated sigh. "It's too bad we don't have a secret base or tree house. I could hide Astral there until we figure something out."

Kotori clapped her hands together excitedly as an idea hit her. "That's it! The duel lodge!"

"Duel lodge?" Yuma questioned before realizing what she meant. "You're right! Master Roku is on vacation for the next few weeks. We can hide Astral there until he gets back! If we talk to him, he might even let Astral stay for a while."

"What do you think Astral?" Kotori turned to him. He had been quiet throughout the exchange.

"I believe this is a good plan," Astral replied. An excited gleam suddenly shimmered in his eyes. "And I also like the idea of exploring the lodge with this new form."

"Then it's decided. We're heading to the Duel Lodge!" Yuma cheered, racing towards the door.

"Yuma, wait! It's-" Kotori shouted at his retreating back too late. She grabbed Astral's arm before he could follow him.

The eccentric boy let out a startled shrill. "_It's_ _cold_!"

"You're such an idiot sometimes." She retorted when he came back in, puddles marking his trail like breadcrumbs. "Before we go, you should probably give Astral a spare coat so we don't have _two_ people sick later."

"You could've warned me." Yuma pouted as he passed her on his way to his bedroom. When he came back, he was in a new, drier set of clothes. In one hand, he had a spare raincoat for Astral.

"I tried but you were obviously in a hurry," sighing, she turned her attention to the otherworldly being. Even though he was new to this form, Astral was proving he had learned a lot from them.

"Do I have it on right?" Astral asked, his heterochromia eyes darting back and forth between their coats and his.

"Yeah, and on your first try, too." Yuma praised as a ringing filled the air. Pulling out his D-Gazer, he checked who was calling. He immediately hung up when he heard who it was. "Uh-oh! Its Kari! We have to move before she comes here and sees Astral!"

"She will now that you hung up on her," Kotori said, following him to the door.

"What is that?" Astral asked when he saw her pick up the umbrella.

"This?" Puzzled, Kotori looked down at it. She smiled as an idea struck her.

Handing him the umbrella, she instructed Astral on how to open it.

_Whoosh! _

"Oh, my!" Astral gasped when it unfolded, so startled he backed up into the coatrack. Both she and Yuma laughed as he spun the handle in his hand, thoroughly fascinated by it.

"I bet you've seen that look a lot today," Kotori muttered to him while Astral continued playing with the umbrella.

"Ever since he woke up," Yuma agreed. "It's kinda cute how the whole world is new to him all over again-" Yuma's D-Gazer began ringing again. "Maybe I should leave a note so she doesn't hunt us down."

"Considering your sister's quick intuition," both of them turned to Astral. The umbrella was resting on his shoulder, shading him from the hallway light. "She's probably already on her way over to see what's going on."

"That is her nature," recalling all of mission's Kari had sent them on, Kotori had to agree. Kari could almost be called a psychic with the way she picked stuff up so easily.

Yuma nodded. After writing down where they were heading, he carefully locked the door behind him.

* * *

Hamartia opened the bedroom window with ease, only slightly surprised when he learned it wasn't locked. Slipping into the room, he looked for any sign of where Yuma had gone. There was no doubt in his mind Astral was with him.

When he didn't find anything, he moved on to the rest of the house. In the hallway by the front door, he found a note from Yuma sitting on a small endtable. Memorizing the name of the place written on there, he took off to find his target.

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Whoa. Your first sneeze." Yuma said, obviously amused.

"I've decided I don't like cold rain," Astral admitted. So far he liked being human, except for the rain. Even with the coat Yuma gave him and the cover of the umbrella, his skin was shivering from the wetness that managed to slip past both.

"I don't either but I love the puddles it leaves."

"Why?" Tilting his head, Astral looked at him and patiently waited for an answer.

"Because of this!" Smiling gleefully, Yuma jumped on the nearest puddle. Astral brought his arms up as water scattered all over the place.

"Ah!" Kotori screamed as some landed on her. "Yuma! Splash me again and I will stab you with my umbrella!"

"Relax, I'm just trying to show him how much fun it is." Yuma told her, crossing his arms.

"So you plan on getting us wet in the process!?"

Letting them settle their spat, Astral glanced at the puddle. _'I wonder what Yuma means by this being fun.'_ Well, there was only one way to find out…

Jumping into it, he felt a strange surge of excitement flow through him as he watched the droplets fly through the air, each sparkling as if they were stars reaching for the sky. Oddly mourning them as they landed, their glittering light made him want to repeat the action just so he could see them again...

"You're going to end up teaching him bad habits, Yuma, and-" Kotori screamed as the splash, bigger than the last one, covered them head-to-toe. Despite his guilt, the look on their faces made Astral smile. "Uh!"

"Awesome! Astral that was best one yet!" Yuma cheered excitedly, pumping a fist into the air as he did. Kotori, on the other hand, didn't look too impressed. In fact, the look on her face made the air around Astral turn frigid..

"Yuma," she said in a very slow, low voice. Her glaring eyes held a light that made Astral shiver.

"Ya?" Yuma asked, looking at her. He swallowed hard when he saw the umbrella in her hand collapse. "Okay. Let's take a deep breath, Kotori. Astral was just curious. There's no need to get violent…"

Kotori poked Yuma in the chest with the tip of her umbrella. "It's not Astral I plan to go after. It's you!"

"Me? Why me? I didn't do anything!"

"You didn't do anything? You were the one who showed him that!"

Yuma chuckled nervously. "Well, um-"

_Chime. Chime, chime. Ch-chime._

They all froze as the strange sound filled the air, putting their little debate on hold. Astral tried to locate it with his hearing but it was strangely echoing throughout the area. There was something about it though that made him uncomfortable. "What is that?"

"It sounds like a wind chime." Yuma quietly replied.

"Are you kids alright?" All three of them jumped away from the voice behind them. Turning around, Astral saw a boy wearing a brown cloak standing there with a cheerful, almost sly grin. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

He couldn't see his face, but Astral knew there was something wrong with the boy. The chiming had gone quiet and he could sense a dark air around the stranger as Yuma answered him. "Yeah, you just snuck up on us is all."

"Forgive me. I hadn't meant to." The stranger looked up at the sky. "Shouldn't you three be inside? And out of this dreadful rain."

"We're heading to the duel-" Kotori grabbed Yuma's arm then and jerked him away from the stranger. Not wanting to stay near the dark aura, Astral immediately followed them.

"Sorry, sir, but we really need to get going," she shouted as they moved. To Yuma she muttered, "What the heck were you thinking! We don't know that guy. He could've been a Barian."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Yuma admitted, grinning sheepishly.

"Something was off about him. We should avoid meeting him again if possible." Astral said, glancing back. He gasped when he saw what was coming their way. "Um, Yuma! Kotori!"

"What?" They both questioned, gasping when they saw it too.

A wall of water was about to crash down on them.

Froze to the spot, he almost didn't feel Yuma's hand grabbing his arm. "Astral! Remember the deep breath I take before I dive into the school's pool?!"

"Yes?"

"Do that _now_!" Astral did as he was instructed before the wave came down on them. He nearly lost it however when his feet were knocked off the cement. Colliding with Yuma, both of them were swept several feet away before the wave finally died out.

"Are you alright, Astral?" Yuma managed to cough out.

Letting out a few coughs of his own, Astral sat up and took inventory. "I feel a little drained and my head hurts. But I'm okay."

"Good," Yuma said, relieved to hear it. "Kotori, how are you? Kotori?"

When there was no reply, Astral looked over his shoulder and discovered they were in another part of the city. The storm had moved on, leaving warm sunlight to reflect off the railroad tracks webbing around them on the ground. Parked trains and cars sat on top of them, waiting to start their day's work. An empty track divided the space between them and the hooded figure. "I'd prefer it if we could try this the easy way, first."

"Where's Kotori!" Yuma challenged, hopping to his feet.

"I didn't want to involve her. Yet. So I left her behind." He told them as Astral shakily got to his own. "I am a Barian Tracker, by the way. Here to capture the Original Number now that he's in a more...'manageable' form."

"What's a Barian Tracker?" Astral asked as Yuma stepped in front of him protectively.

"A Barian trained to track down and capture prey."

"So you're a bounty hunter," Yuma asked.

"To an extent." The Barian raised a hand and made a beckoning gesture. "Come, Original Number. Before I hurt your friend."

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you take Astral so easily. You'll have to duel me first!" Yuma dared the Barian before he could answer.

"And me. I won't be leaving without a fight. And I won't allow you to hurt Yuma if I can help it." Astral agreed, feeling the same rebellious fire fill his core. There was a flicker of worry at the back of his mind though. If it did come down to a duel, he had no idea how the Barian's sphere field would affect his new form. He didn't want to leave Yuma to fight alone like he'd had to last time.

"Now that you're human, I should be able to nab the Numbers when I nab you. A duel really isn't necessary." The Barian told them.

"Can he do that?" Yuma muttered without taking his eyes off the tracker.

Gritting his teeth, Astral's mind raced to think of an escape plan. The screaming whistle in the distance wasn't helping much. _'Wait. A whistle…'_

"Yuma," he whispered. "Isn't that a train?"

Yuma looked at him and then down the track. He smiled when he saw the blue engine approaching them. "Good idea, Astral. Are you ready for your first sprint?"

"Yes!"

"What are you two whispering about over there?" The Barian demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Just debating if we should give in," fibbed Yuma. They couldn't see his face, but it was clear that the Barian was frowning at the unexpected reply.

_'He's not too keen on believing us_,_'_ thought Astral as he urged the train to move faster.

"If that _is_ the case, then why are you two so silent?"

"Here it comes," muttered Yuma. "I don't know much of your world, Barian, but I'm willing to bet you don't have trains."

"Trains?" The tracker's question was muffled by a loud whistle as the train arrived.

"Now!" He heard Yuma shout as he turned to run. Astral stumbled through the first few steps as he attempted to dash across the uneven ground. It helped that Yuma grabbed his upper arm so he didn't fall flat on his face. His balance quickly adjusted however, and he was soon running like a pro.

Hiding behind one of the stationary cars, they stopped to catch their breath. "We need to find a way out of here. _Fast_."

"I agree." Looking off to his right, Astral noticed they were near the train yard's border. "If we climb up that short overhang, maybe we'll lose him in the field."

An explosion erupted behind them, cutting Yuma off from what he was about to say. The car they were hiding behind bounced as parts from the moving train flew into it. What looked like a wheel bounced on the ground in front of them, making Astral's heart skip a beat, and over the next car.

"Whoa! Let's not think about it!" Yuma shouted, shoving him towards their new destination. "Let's run!"

Embers and ash danced in the air as they hastily ran. A haze had filled the entire area by the time they crawled over the overhang, the fence, and into the field. When they finally stopped, Astral's legs ached so badly he had to sit down. Looking back, he could see nothing except fire and smoke.

Turning his gaze to Yuma, Astral noticed he was holding his arm and carefully keeping it out of his view. "Are you hurt, Yuma?"

"I'm fine," he replied, his gaze fixed on the yard. "Do you think he survived that?"

"Unfortunately, I doubt we'll be rid of him that easily."

Yuma was silent for a while. "I wonder how they found out."

"Only the two of us and Kotori knew about my transformation. I can't believe that she betrayed us." Getting to his feet, a thought struck Astral. "Could they have sensed it somehow?"

"Maybe…" Yuma pulled out his D-Gazer. "Hey, Kotori! Are you there?" Nothing but static answered him. "Darn. Guess we're on our own. I hope she's okay."

"We should leave, Yuma." Astral's skin was beginning to shiver. And it wasn't from the warm sunlight.

"Right." Together, they made their way deeper into the field, praying with each step they took that the Tracker didn't pick up their trail.

* * *

"Blasted human contraption," Hamartia growled. Taking a look at the destruction around him, he cursed. "Damn. That fireball was too powerful. Durde will have my head if I killed the Original Number before he's had the chance to use him."

Walking around, Hamartia searched for any signs of where the pair had gone. Or for their bodies.

"Ah," he purred sometime later, dipping a finger into the drying drop of blood he found on the ground. Looking at the fence, he smiled. "How nice of them to leave me a trail marker."

-End of chapter two-

And so the hunt begins! Thank you guys for reviewing! I'm glad I have things pretty accurate so far. It's definitely a relief to know. :D Oh, and moonshadow2012, Astral is one of my favs as well. He is such a _cute_ character! 3

On a side note, I wanted to let everyone know I plan on updating this every weekend, or around it at least, if I possibly can. (as long as life doesn't get in the way, of course)

Anyhow, I'm glad you all are enjoying it so far and I hope it continues to do so! :D

Please feel free to review!


	3. Chapter 3: Left and Right

Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh Zexal, or any of the yugioh series for that matter.

Chapter 3: Left and Right

"That key-keeper is making my job awfully easy," Hamartia muttered as he followed the faint trail of dried blood. "I may not have to worry about eliminating him if this keeps up."

Though, that would really kill any fun he was now looking forward to. Ever since the human summoned that _train_, he'd been looking forward to taking him out in a magic showdown.

How he summoned it worried Hamartia however. From what he understood, magic was extinct in this world. He was starting to question if that darn scientist was reintroducing it without his consent…

"Hm? Ah, look there. My prey is not too far ahead." Hamartia purred when he saw them. Since they refused to surrender, he was now allowed to mess with them in his own way. It would surely end with a big mess for him to clean up, but, he'll worry about that later.

"Now, how should we play?" His sudden smirk showed off his canines.

* * *

"Yuma? I know this may be foolish, but can we take a break? My legs are beginning to get heavy." Looking over his shoulder, Yuma felt pity for his tuckered out friend. Astral had only been human for half a day, and it was already proving to be too exciting for them both.

"We're not too far from that stream. Let's stop there, okay?" Yuma asked. Turning his head back to the front, he hid a grimace from Astral. During the explosion, something, a piece of metal he assumed, collided with his arm. Even now, he could feel a few drops of blood dripping through his fingers.

Astral didn't know about the injury, but Yuma had made sure of that. He may've been logical, but there was no doubt in his mind that Astral would insist on stopping so it could be taken care of. And stopping wasn't something Yuma wanted to risk earlier. Not with that Barian tracking them down.

"Fine." Astral replied, obviously not happy. He was too tired from the running they had done all morning to argue though. "Do you even _know_ where the duel lodge is from here?"

Swallowing a remark, Yuma said. "I'll figure it out during the break."

"That's reassuring," he overheard Astral mutter. He forced himself to ignore the unpleasant comment.

When they finally got to the bank's edge, Yuma took off his socks and shoes. Stepping into the cold water, he shivered before tossing his raincoat onto the shore. The sleeve had collected most of the fluid, so his arm was somewhat covered with dry blood. Disgusted by it, Yuma began washing it off. "You lied."

"We couldn't afford to stop," taking out his D-Gear, he gave it to Astral. "You know how to call Kotori, right?"

Mad at him for not telling, Astral didn't answer. Playing with it for a moment, he finally managed to get a signal. Another round of static filled their ears, making Astral sigh, "It appears we're still on our own."

"Kotori knows where the duel lodge is. She'll meet us there." Yuma told him, confident in their friend. Watching Astral plop his rear on the ground- which he did by letting himself literally fall down on it, earning a wince from him- Yuma noticed he wasn't looking too good. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Better than you," Astral smiled at the glare he gave him. "But my feet do hurt."

"Dip them into the water. It should help." He suggested. After taking off his socks and shoes, the otherworldly being just stared at his first set of toes with saucer-sized eyes.

Though comical, Yuma found it kind of odd. Earlier, Astral's fingers had travelled around his cheek in response to the new sensation of feeling skin. Even Kotori's umbrella was spun to heck under that huge curiosity of his. Now, Astral looked too stunned to test them out.

"Astral." When his heterochromia eyes looked at him, Yuma lifted a foot and wiggled his toes. Getting the idea, Astral attempted to do the same. A big smile bloomed across his face as those little things responded.

"That's better," Yuma muttered. While Astral tested his feet out by putting them in the water and swishing it around, he turned his attention back to his arm. Washing off more blood, he found a gash sitting a few inches from his shoulder. The skin around it was already turning purple.

"Yuma?"

Looking at Astral's worried face, he gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Astral." He frowned when the other's eyes fell to his wound. "It's not as bad as it looks. See? The bleeding stopped."

Giving the water a gentle kick, Astral sprayed him with a small sprinkling of water. "That's not what the coloring tells me."

"Well, it should. I can Kattobingu in a duel with this and be completely fine." Yuma protested. Determined to prove him wrong, he pumped his fist into the air like earlier. Feeling a sharp pain, he cringed.

"Oh, yes. You'll surely Kattobingu alright. Every time you draw." Before Yuma could say anything in return, something in the background caught their attention.

Muscles tightening, their eyes darted up to the nearest hill. There was a quiet chiming coming from somewhere behind it, and it was getting closer. Thinking it was the tracker, both of their minds raced to think up an escape plan as the source approached.

When he finally appeared, Yuma wanted to scream every cuss word he knew.

"Baa!"

"Great! Now we're getting spooked by Mary's little lamb!" He growled as the sheep trotted over, the bell around its neck jingling away.

"I believe it's a ewe, Yuma." Astral corrected. "And who is Mary?"

"I was referring to a nursery rhythm," Yuma told him as he reached down and petted it. He froze when he saw the image on the bell. _'That's the Barian brainwashing crest!'_

"I see you've found my friend." Turning around, Yuma's maroon eyes met a pair of pale lilac. They belonged to a boy around twenty with long, light brown hair. He was a little taller than Kari and wore a black petticoat over a pair of black jeans and a red shirt. "I appreciate it."

"Um, no prob." It didn't take long for Astral to mentally alert him to an important detail. _"Yuma! He has the same dark aura as the Barian!"_

'_Not good_,' he thought as the stranger crossed the stream.

"The name is Hamartia Hoard. Yours?" The boy asked, offering his hand. The sly smile on his face was familiar, but he kept Rei and Arito in mind. If this wasn't the tracker, then maybe it was a friend.

"I'm Yuma Tsukumo and this is Astral," he warily shook Hamartia's hand.

"What interesting names," Hamartia said. "Forgive me for asking, but what _are_ you two doing out here?"

"We… got lost," stuttered Yuma. It wasn't a lie, technically.

"Oh? Where are you headed? I might be able to point you in the right direction." The boy leaned forward, uncomfortably coming close to his face.

"Um..." Considering Astral's predicament and the mistake he nearly made earlier, Yuma _really_ didn't want to give him an answer. "Well…"

The D-Gear next to Astral suddenly went off, saving him this time.

_"Astral! Grab your stuff and run!" _Snatching up their belongings, they both bolted. "Oh, that's my sister! She's helping us with the coordinates. We better go before she gets mad. Bye!"

"That was perfect timing on your sister's part." Astral commented as they ran along the side of the stream, his footwear in hand.

"No joke," Yuma agreed as he answered it.

"YUMA! What the _HECK_ is going _ON_ in that _FAT_ head of _YOURS_!" He nearly dropped the D-Gear he was so startled by the harsh scolding.

"Relax, I'm just visiting master Roku." He explained.

"I might've believed that, but there was a big explosion at the train yard earlier," Yuma's stomach clenched as he realized where this was going. "And guess who showed up on the security cameras."

"You saw the _whole_ thing?!" He exclaimed, unconsciously gripping the Key.

"Your face briefly showed up on the footage before the explosion." She told him. "Honestly! Do you realize how close to _dead_ you were?! You gave me such a heart attack, I'm vying to kill you _myself_ before Grimy does. Where _are_ you anyway?"

"Um, not sure. Do you think you can help us out?"

"_Oh_, _no_. You got yourself into this, you can get yourself out- Wait? 'Us'? Who's with you?"

"One of my friends." Yuma said, glancing at Astral. "I kinda dragged him into this."

"More like I dragged you," he barely heard the whisper behind him.

Kari heaved a frustrated sigh. "Fine. It'll take some time, but I'll track down your signal. Find someplace to hunker down until I call, okay? I don't want to screw up the coordinates."

"Thanks." Turning off the device, he stopped running and turned to Astral. "It wasn't anyone's fault. That tracker jumped us before we even knew he was there."

Astral looked at his hand. "True, but if I hadn't become human-"

"It wouldn't have mattered. I'm sure he would've come after us eventually," he assured as he put the D-Gear away.

"I suppose," Astral replied as he rubbed an eye.

"Let's find someplace to rest until Kari calls," Yuma smiled. "You look like you could use a nap."

Astral simply nodded, his eyes already beginning to droop.

Finding a tree with plenty of bushes surrounding it to hide them from the tracker, Yuma sat down and leaned against its trunk. Astral was soon standing next to him, inquisitively looking at it. Rolling his eyes good humoredly, Yuma grabbed his hand and pulled him into a seat next to him. "You can't take a nap while standing."

"It's rough," observed Astral as his hand traced the bark of one of the roots. His mouth fell slightly open when he looked up.

Curious about what the look was for, he followed Astral's gaze. Up above, the sunlight was shining down on them between the freshly budded leaves. Some of their undersides were glowing bright green as the light hit their tops, giving off a lovely sense of warmth as they it. Gazing at them, Yuma felt himself getting drowsy as the wind softly rocked each leaf.

Feeling a weight on his right shoulder, he found Astral's head on it. His closed eyes, relaxed features, and breathing said it all. "Sweet dreams, Astral."

Yuma tried to stay awake as they waited for his sister to call, in case the tracker showed up. But he, too, eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Taking in a sharp intake of air, Astral stirred. For a moment, he thought something bad had happened because he'd somehow been knocked out. But something didn't fit with this thought.

Déjà vu was flooding through all of his senses. He could feel something he could only describe as 'hairy' beneath him. The word 'bark' kept bouncing around his head whenever he thought about the roughness at his back. The thing he was leaning against was warm and there was a strange thudding pulse coming from it. The noises it made oddly sounded like Yuma when the boy slept…

'_Yuma?_'

His eyes fluttering open, they darted over to the figure next to him. Astral's head tilted in puzzlement. It _was_ Yuma.

The memories from earlier came back and he recalled his new condition. His _human_ condition. _'It appears I'm still not use to this form. It'll probably take some time…'_

Sitting up, he yawned and looked around. The sun above hadn't moved much, so his nap hadn't been too long. The spring day had gotten pretty warm though, too warm for the raincoat he was wearing.

Shedding it, Astral stood and stretched like he'd seen the humans do during gym. Like Yuma had told him before, it did feel pretty good. Looking down at his socks and shoes, Astral debated putting them on. Loving the tickling of the grass beneath his feet, he quickly decided not to.

A high trilling song from behind caught his attention. Glancing over his shoulder, Astral saw a brown-pinkish bird dart into the grove beyond their tree. A Japanese waxwing Yuma once called it.

Wanting to follow it, he took a step towards the grove. Then stopped and glanced at Yuma. _'Yuma won't mind if I go exploring for a bit. I'm not going to go _too_ far,'_ he assured himself.

Carefully, Astral began walking through the mysterious grove. Breaking through a thick wall of bushes, he halted when he saw the scene in front of him. In the middle of the glade, playing under a cherry blossom tree, blissfully ignorant of his presence in their frolicking, was a doe and her twins.

Sitting down slowly where he stood, a bizarre sense of awe and wonder warmed him as he watched them. Something about the scene seemed _soo_ familiar...

Both of the fawns froze and stared when they finally noticed him. One, nearly identical to its sibling with the exception of a white spot near the tip of its left ear, fell flat to its belly and sat perfectly still.

Its sibling, on the other hand, slowly approached him. Its ears were aimed at him, still and alert. Astral noted it had the same spot as its sibling, only it was marked on the right ear. Nose sniffing wildly, he felt its breath on his skin as it came close to his own.

"Hello," he quietly said. It completely stiffened, seemingly startled by his voice. For a moment, Astral thought it was going to bolt. But it surprised him in turn.

The little fawn bounced where it stood and then proceeded to headbutt him. Falling over backwards, Astral rubbed his poor aching temples. "Ouch. Nice meeting you, too."

It made a neighing whistle and frolicked around him. Its sibling, who had somehow snuck up to him, nudged his arm and licked his cheek. Giggling, Astral looked behind him at the other fawn, who was already getting ready to tackle him, and grinned.

"Ah, my lucky day. I found an elf playing with the sika." Startled, Astral's eyes snapped around while the fawns took off after their mother into the woods. He immediately stood.

The tracker was standing within a couple steps of him.

"An elf?" Astral questioned, unsure of what he meant. Or to do.

"That's what you remind me of." The tracker's thumb brushed across his cheek. He shivered as it stopped by his ear. The earring swung after he flicked it. "And your earrings are so otherworldly. I doubt its exquisiteness is… _of this world_."

Lightning bolted up Astral's spine and he jumped away from the Barian. Fear driven, he immediately backed up but his back ran into a tree. Having never been trapped like this before, Astral didn't know what to do. He thought about screaming for Yuma, but his voice was oddly stuck in his throat.

"There, there. I wasn't going to hurt you. Durbe would kill me if I did that unnecessarily."

"Who?" Astral asked, his voice suddenly returning to him.

"Where's your key-keeper? Considering how I can't take you to my world, I would like to…'remove' the guard dog from the yard, so to speak." The tracker said, sidestepping his question.

"Key-keeper?" Questioned Astral. _'Wait…! He means Yuma!'_

"Yes. Since neither of you are willing to give in, I'm allowed to play my games." The Barian explained, a sick sweetness seeping into his voice.

"So you're not here to abduct me. Then why _are_ you here?" Astral demanded.

"Let's just say, I love the smell of fear. And by letting _him_ see me with you…"

"Astral!" Turning his head, he saw Yuma racing towards them.

"…I have accomplished that." With that said, the Barian turned around and calmly walked to the other side of the glade. His voice echoed as he disappeared. "Blood _will_ spill soon, Original Number. The storm will make sure of _that_."

"Astral!" Yuma shouted, sliding to a halt in front of him. "Hey, Barian! I- Huh? Where'd he go?"

"He left."

Turning to him, Yuma's eyebrows were knitted together. "He left? That's weird. I thought he _wanted_ to take you away?"

"He apparently sees you as an obstacle." Astral told him. The wind was picking up speed, shaking the trees around them. It even teased at their clothes. Just like the tracker was teasing them.

"Really? Good. He should because he'll never get you with here!" Yuma boasted, somehow missing the point.

"I'm glad you feel that way, but I don't think it's for the reason you wish to believe." Astral's eyes wandered over to where the Barian disappeared. He was beginning to grow edgy. He didn't know if the tracker was messing with them or being serious. Either way, the thought of him hurting Yuma was not sitting well with him at all.

"Thanks for killing the mood," Yuma frowned, placing both fists on his hips. "But what do you mean, exactly?"

"Because he seems determined to scare you." A crow cawed overhead, landing in the branches above them.

"Scare me?" Yuma questioned as his D-Gear went off.

"Yuma! I'm sending you the coordinates now. Go straight to the duel lodge. There's a nasty storm coming in this evening and," Kari's voice, calm up 'til now, turned into a snarl. "If I learn you've gotten into any more trouble, I'll personally _STUFF_ you into one of our parents' sarcophaguses and _LOCK_ you up in the attic! Is that _CLEAR_?!"

"Y-y-yes, ma'am!" Yuma stuttered.

"Your sister's concern is really starting to show," Astral commented after she hung up. He could feel a drop of sweat falling down the back of his neck.

"Yeah," Yuma agreed grimly. A shadow raced across the ground beneath them. Looking up, Astral watched a massive dark cloud cover the sun. "We better get going. The last thing we need is to get stuck in this."

-End of chapter three-

And so the mighty storm approaches...


	4. Chap 4: Look What the Storm Dragged In

Chapter 4: Look What the Storm Dragged In

_ '_Please_, be here!'_ Kotori mentally exclaimed as she rounded the corner leading to the duel lodge. Even at the breakneck pace she was running at, it took her nearly the same amount of time to get to the steps leading up to the sanctuary that it usually did. And the incoming storm overhead was only getting worse.

"What the-!?" She stopped as soon as she reached the first step, shocked and horrified by the wall of roots blocking her path.

"_NO_!" Racing up to the wooden barrier, she began searching for a way around to no avail. "Come on! There has to be something. Yuma and Astral need me!"

"The only way from here would be to climb," came a voice from behind her.

Startled, Kotori spun around and faced the stranger. Hope hit her like a soccer ball to the head when she saw who it was. "Master Roku! Is Yuma with you?"

"No. But his sister called me, and told me that he and one of your friends might be in trouble." The elder looked up at the wall behind her. "This thing is meant to keep us out. Whatever trouble you kids attracted, it's obviously determined to follow you. And keep you from escaping it."

"We have to get to them no matter what, master Roku." She begged as he walked over and stood next to her. "The person after us isn't here for a friendly duel."

"Oh?" Roku asked, looking away from the wall and meeting her acorn-orange eyes.

"He's after our friend." She decided to tell him the truth. "Astral became human thanks to a new Number card. And we think the Barian are after him because of it."

"If it is, then we need to get in there. Climbing is out of the question, though. There are several walls separating us and the lodge." The corners of his mouth rose into a smirk. "It's a good thing I made a secret entrance a few years back, eh?"

Happiness filled her. There was a way for them to get in and save her friends. As long as it wasn't too late.

* * *

"Finally!" Yuma exclaimed when they reached the duel lodge. It was evening now, but the approaching storm had darkened the landscape. To Astral's eyes, it almost looked like night had fallen early.

"Kotori's not here." Astral observed as a nearby roar of thunder deafen their ears. The ground fiercely shook beneath them, forcing him to grab Yuma's sleeve for support until the tremor passed.

"She's probably inside." Yuma guessed as he glanced up at the unfriendly sky. There was a faint uneasiness coming from him despite his positive attitude.

_'I wonder if he'll ever become aware of her feelings towards him. And his own for her_,_'_ thought Astral in amusement. Or, at least he thought Yuma wasn't aware. He was still trying to puzzle out the strange courtship rituals of the human species.

Opening the door, Yuma huffed out a sigh. "I think that's the most exercise I've had in a while. I'm ready for din."

"Would it be safe to cook rice?" Astral asked, recalling his first taste back in the Heartland finals. The mere thought of having it again was making his mouth flood with saliva.

"What do you mean by safe?! My cooking is, well, passable." Growled Yuma, his cheeks turning red as his earlier failure came back to haunt him.

"Breakfast was a _great_ example," Astral sarcastically replied, closing the door behind him.

"I just need practice, that's all." Yuma pouted. "If you're so worried, why don't _you_ cook?"

"I can try." Astral felt his eye twitch when a wide-eyed expression crossed Yuma's features.

"Um, no offense. But you've never cooked before-" Yuma started to say when he suddenly grimaced. Bringing a hand up, he kneaded his temples.

"Another dizzy spell?" Shortly after the run-in with the tracker back in the glade, Yuma had begun getting more and more lightheaded. The boy had drunk from the stream a couple of times to help replenish the blood he had lost this morning but, from Astral's point of view, it didn't seem to be helping much.

"I just need a painkiller and a good meal." Yuma reassured, giving him a smile.

"I'll do the cooking while you take care of _that_," Astral decided, pointing at the crescent-shaped gash partially ringing Yuma's upper arm. He could already see it was going to bother him in a duel, let alone while he cooked.

"_Ooooh_, no! Now that you're in my world, you get to listen to me!" Yuma protested, stomping a foot on the ground to show how much he meant it.

"You cannot cook with that injury. It'd be easier for you to just listen to me this time."

"Oh, _yeah_. How about I cook that glowing flashlight rear of yours instead! Ghost stew is sounding awfully good right now." The corner of Yuma's mouth twitched, puzzling him. It also ticked him off a little seeing as how the boy was strangely finding this funny.

"As if you could fit me into one of those tiny things," Astral calmly retorted back.

An evil gleam suddenly shone in Yuma's eyes as he smirked mischievously. "Wanna bet?"

"What is there to bet? You're an idiot if you think it's possible." Swallowing, Astral shuddered as his mood quickly turned north. Yuma had gone from irritating to creepy.

"Roku has a pot that might do the trick…"

"Yuma? What are you..? Don't-!" Astral darted a couple of steps out of arm's reach as Yuma tried to grab him.

"What's wrong, Astral? Scared of a being cooked?" Astral bolted down the hall when Yuma attempted to grab him again. This time, though, he was feeling a surge of bubbliness akin to the one born from jumping into the puddle this morning. Trying his best to stay away from his friend's hand, Astral couldn't help but let out a couple of laughs as they playfully sped through the lodge's corridors.

"I gotcha-!" Yuma excitedly exclaimed when he finally managed to snatch Astral's arm. Unfortunately, since they were also rounding a corner, it sent them both skidding across the slick wooded floor.

"Ow. Owowow," Yuma chanted after they'd crashed, cupping his wounded arm as he stood. "Well, that was fun. Let's see if we can find Kotori now."

"I'll search for Kotori. You should go take care of that gash before it gets infected." Astral told him, preferring to have it taken care of sooner rather than later.

"Fine, worrywart. You win this one." Recognizing the room they were in, Yuma frowned. "That's strange. All of the duel monster statues are gone."

"Didn't master Roku say he had entered a contest in a nearby town?" Asked Astral, recalling the conversation they had with the duel sensei during their last visit.

"Yeah, he did. But I thought woodcarving contests were just that. A bunch of people getting together and seeing who the best wood whittler was."

"Maybe they compare finished pieces, too." Suggested Astral as his heterochromia eyes scanned the room. It was a disappointment to see each podium empty. He had been eager to check them out first when they had gotten here.

"Maybe," said Yuma with shrug. "Well, guess I'll go get patched up. Don't start cooking _anything _until you find her."

"Fine," Astral muttered as he watched Yuma's retreating back before searching the lodge. As he did, he made sure to list all the questions he was going to ask the pair after dinner. Sure, it was going to give Yuma another headache, but he knew he would answer his questions. One way or another.

Coming to the kitchen, which he had made certain would be last, it became clear that Kotori hadn't arrived yet.

"I wonder if the storm has something to do with this." Astral pondered as a bolt of lightning danced across the sky beyond the window. Glancing at the stove, he smiled.

Recalling the observations he'd done from watching grandma Haru, Astral gathered what he needed to start cooking the rice. After flooding the floor with water and nearly crisping a finger while starting one of the burners, Astral placed the lid on the pot and waited for Yuma to return.

A short time later, a string of muffled cuss words echoed down the hall. Concerned, Astral left the towel he was using to clean up the floor and darted to the bathroom.

Peeking into the doorway, Astral heard a bubbling sound. Sitting on the sink was a bottle of peroxide and a roll of linen. At the moment, Yuma was fiddling with the bandage he was trying, and failing, to one-handedly apply. "Yuma?"

Yuma's head looked up from what he was doing. "What's wrong? Did you fine Kotori?"

"No, I don't think she's here. Do you need help?" Astral asked, his eyes staying on Yuma's arm.

"Well," Yuma looked down at the poorly applied bandage. Without waiting for an answer, Astral walked over and carefully tightened it around the wound. "You're starting to scare me with how much you've picked up from us. It's nice to know that I don't have to teach you _everything _though."

Astral raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Hey! Don't take it wrong! I'm just saying you can get pretty obnoxious with your questions. I wore out my outdoorsman gen before you were even done on the way here, remember?" Yuma defensively said.

"Uh-huh." Astral dryly replied before walking out of the room. "I better go check on the rice."

"Fine, be that way-" Hearing the abrupt pause, he couldn't help but smile. "Wait! You didn't!?"

Turning so he was walking backwards, Astral crossed his arms and gave Yuma a smug smile when he hastily walked out of the bathroom. "I'm cooking rice."

Yuma's eyes narrowed at him, obviously not happy that he had disobeyed. "I better check it, too, in case you burn this place down."

"Go ahead. I think I've proven to be the better cook this time." He couldn't stop the grin he was holding back any longer. It made Yuma sigh in irritation, but a smile snuck into his face as well.

"Great. Now you're just getting cocky." Entering the kitchen, Yuma immediately slipped and landed on his tailbone. Seeing the water around him, he gapped in horror. "What the hell?! Astral, what did you do to this place! It looks like the World Flood in here!"

"They're puddles, Yuma. You won't drown." Astral replied. "And I had most of it cleaned up by the time I heard your foul mouth."

"You call this 'most'?" Hearing the pot hiss, Yuma jumped to his feet and raced over to it. Picking up the lid, he aimed the steam away from them before taking a look at its contents. His jaw dropped.

"What?"

"Never mind," Yuma nonchalantly said. The hand holding the lid was shaking, telling him a different story. "Go ahead and get some bowls out." Astral grinned and walked over to the cupboard. "And quit smirking. It's not funny!"

"Yes it is. I bettered you."

"Jerk," Yuma playfully teased. Sometime later, along with a half-eaten pot of rice, Yuma was staring at Astral with a stunned frown as he watched him finish off another bowl. "I think you've had enough, Astral. Either way, you'll end up bursting if you eat a fifth."

Astral swallowed his last bit and sighed. "I'm beginning to feel lethargic, too."

"That's what you get for eating more than your body can take," Yuma told him with a sympathetic smile.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"What was that?" Asked Astral after the sound filled the building.

"It must be master Roku!" Yuma exclaimed, slamming both his bowl and chopsticks on the table. Standing up, he ran out the room. "Maybe Kotori's with him, too! Stay here while I go talk to him."

_ 'I thought Yuma said master Roku was going to be gone for a few weeks…'_ Astral thought, puzzled, as the door closed. A whistling neigh from behind caught his attention. "Eh?"

Taking a look, he saw one of the fawns from before. "What are you doing here?!"

The little fawn came over and nudged his arm. Then, unexpectedly, it chomped down on his sleeve and tried to pull him to the door. Wondering what was up, he decided to see what it wanted. "Alright, alright. I'll follow you."

Letting out another one of its neighs, the little fawn pranced over to the door and waited for him to open it. Doing so Astral followed it out the room.

* * *

"Hey! Master Roku!" Yuma exclaimed excitedly as he ran into the room with the wooden statues. Shocked, he stopped when he saw who it was. "Hamartia?!"

"I hope you don't mind me being here. My dark colt of the ninety-nine isn't a big fan of storms," said Hamartia as he lazily walked around the room, admiring each of the empty podiums. "He was headed here last I knew."

"Your dark colt of the ninety-nine?" Yuma mimicked. An uneasy queasiness was starting to stir in his stomach. _'Something's not right. We never told him where we were going.'_

"Yes, my colt." Hamartia said, snapping his fingers. The sound of the door slamming shut behind him made Yuma jump. "It's convenient actually. I'd planned on breaking him in when I found someplace secluded. You did my work for me, Yuma."

Staring at the doors, Yuma felt the same entrapment he'd felt back at the train yard engulf him. The dark vibe lurking within the room wasn't helping much either. "You're not talking about an actual horse. Are ya?"

"What a lovely room. The perfect setting for a tracker like me to teach you some manners," Hamartia smirked and turned his lilac gaze to him.

Yuma's eyes widened and flew back to him upon hearing the hint. "_You_ are the tracker?!"

"You're quicker than I thought." With a swish of his hand, a sheep appeared in front of Hamartia. The same one as earlier. "My illusion worked like a charm. I knew you two were worn out between your escapade and constant running. Especially Astral."

Yuma clenched his fists as anger sparked within him. "Wait?! You set us up?"

"Just one of many games I plan on playing," Hamartia shrugged. "The Original Number's curiosity will be child-like for some time. You could say he's going through a brief toddler stage. I just had to tempt him away from you."

"So the fawns…" Yuma allowed the sentence to trail off. He had noticed that Astral was acting more on impulse lately, but he'd chalked that up to his inability to act upon it before now. It was the fact that it could be easily used against them that had his concern knocked up a level. And his temper flaring.

"No. The bird was mine. The fawns were an unexpected blessing." Admitted Hamartia, turning to face him completely.

"Now, be a good host and play a game with me." Bringing it up, Hamartia's hand glowed the same color as his eyes. A fiery orb shot out of his palm, flying through the air faster than Yuma could dodge. Sensing its keeper's danger, the key projected a barrier around him.

"What's this!?" Hamartia exclaimed as the fireball bounced off the shield and into the ceiling. Yuma stared at the bits of timber that dusted the floor after the impact. "It appears the Emperor's key may be the source of your magic."

"My magic?" Yuma dumbfoundedly asked as his eyes fell to his key. As he tried to process what had just happened and what Hamartia meant, something about the room caught his attention. "A Barian sphere cube?!"

"Close. I have a friend who has managed to tweak it a little. It's weaker than average so it can mold into the environment. But it's at least soundproof." Hamartia explained, smiling at the sphere as he did.

"Soundproof?" Yuma's eyes widen. _'That means Astral doesn't know!'_

"Don't bother calling the Original Number. Not even telepathy can break through this sphere." Sensing his distress, Hamartia purred. "I like the privacy, anyway. It gives us a more personal confrontation."

Gritting his teeth, Yuma resorted to the last thing he could possibly do on his own. Pulling out his D-Gear, he challenged the tracker. "If it's a duel you want, then, bring it!"

Hamartia chuckled. "Good. It would delight me to see the old magic of this world. I'll let you make the first move."

Adoring his duel disk and D-Gear, Yuma drew a card from his deck. "I summon gogogo-golem in defense mode and set one card face down. I end my turn."

"You're _joking_! This isn't magic, you dimwit!" Hamartia exclaimed, sounding both disgusted and offended at the same time.

"Nope. Its duel monsters."

"Why you arrogant little-," Clicking his teeth onto his tongue, Hamartia gave him a hard glare. "Fine. We'll play this your way, but I won't be using cards."

Taken aback, Yuma's head bobbed up when he heard the Barian's decision. "How will you duel, then?"

"I have magic. You have Numbers. There are other ways of fighting in a Barian sphere cube, child." Hamartia waved his fingers in a becoming gesture. "So call upon your Hope. It won't be fun if I can't destroy all of you."

"I can't." He admitted, his maroon eyes fleetingly flicking down at his key. "Not without Astral at my side. The cards don't appear unless he is."

"Check. There _are_ some benefits for becoming flesh and blood." Looking down at his extra deck, Yuma reluctantly reached for it. He stopped when the quick of his finger touched the seal. Unsure if it was a trick, he glanced at the tracker.

"Cats find it entertaining to play with prey, whether they intend to eat it or not. The more mice, the merrier." Assured Hamartia.

Flipping open the case, he was surprised to find Hope waiting for him. "See? I told you there were some benefits. Now, get rid of this pathetic monster and summon him!"

"Fine. I summon gagaga magician," Yuma declared. Feeling a sharp jolt in his arm, he cringed as he set the card down.

"You better not submit to your wound, Dark Horse of the Ninety-Nine. Otherwise we won't have any fun."

"I don't submit to anyone or anything!" Yuma snarled as he retrieved Hope from his extra deck. "I xyz summon aspiring emperor Hope!"

A light flashed overhead as the two monsters joined together to form Number 39. Floating down to shield Yuma, Hope fell into its usual defensive stance.

"Good boy. I was starting to get bored." With a swipe of his arm, several little will-'O-wisps appeared. "Are you ready? Because I'm not going to give you another relaxing moment."

Heart pounding like a hummingbird's, Yuma nodded. "Bring it!"

"Very well." Upon hearing the snap of Hamartia's fingers, two wisps darted towards him. Hope blocked one while the other swooped around towards him. Hitting the ground, Yuma covered his head as embers scattered everywhere, some of which landed on his facedown and amazingly burned it to ash. Getting to his feet again, he narrowly sidestepped out of the way of a third wisp. "Come now, human! Show me the reason why you, such a pathetic creature, were chosen to guard the Original Number."

While he focused on trying to dodge the wisps that managed to get past Hope, Yuma was unaware of what was coming his way. Feeling something graze his skin as it wrapped around his stomach, Yuma only had a split second to glimpse at its rough surface before it hurled him across the room. Smacking into one of the columns, he let out a small scream as his wounded arm got smashed between himself and the wood. Lifting his head, Yuma heard footsteps approaching.

Hamartia crouched down in front of him, his smirk showing off his huge canines. "Your reflexes are fast, but magic is so much faster." Yuma winced as the tracker's nails dug into his jaw. "Why are you being so reluctant to fight me?"

"Because," a flicker of gold behind the Barian caught his attention. "I have Hope."

"Hope?" Hamartia quizzically questioned before catching on. Swiftly looking over his shoulder, the Barian barely dodged Hope's sword slash. Landing on one of the podiums, he flicked his wrist, causing the massive branch to tackle the winged warrior. "Well, you're resourceful. I'll give you that much.

"Let's see how you hold out when those resources are banished from the game." With another snap of his fingers, three new branches sprouted from the nearest columns. Two of the branches flung forward, distracting the Number while the other two snuck up and coiled around Hope's wrists. Jerking them back, they made an opening for the first pair. The swords clanged on the wooden floor. It didn't take long for the branches to coil around Hope like a set of hungry pythons, immobilizing it.

"Hope!" Screamed Yuma as the branches crushed the Number, sending it back to his extra deck in the process.

Hamartia smirked when they returned to his side. "Why are you resisting? Shouldn't you use your magic considering the circumstances if you lose?"

"Eh? But I don't have-" With a violent snap of his fingers, the branches obediently darted over and ensnarled Yuma's limbs and torso, lifting him off the ground before he could finish. "Hey! I can't fight you like this!"

"No. You haven't been fighting at all. And my tolerance is only so limited, _human_." Hamartia squeezed his nose between two fingers and shook it. "If blooding and scorching you won't work, then maybe bagging the Original Number _will_."

"Leave Astral alone!" Yuma barked, only to be backhanded when the tracker released his nose.

"Don't worry. I'll give you a chance to see him again. All you have to do in return is fight me." With that said, Hamartia made his way over to the door Yuma had entered from earlier.

_ 'No!'_ Yuma mentally screamed. Taking in a breath a deep breath of air, he attempted one last attempt to warn his friend of the oncoming danger. "Astral run a-"

"Now, now." Hamartia cooed with another swish of his hand. Another branch appeared and coiled around Yuma's mouth, silencing him as the barrier dissolved. "Don't worry. Your little elf is in safe hands."

_'ASTRAL!'_

* * *

"Hm?" Astral hummed anxiously, sensing something was amiss as the little fawn pulled him into a room far from the kitchen. "Something's not right…"

The little fawn made another little neigh and tugged on his sleeve. Kneeling down, Astral petted its soft head. "I really need to check on Yuma now. Sorry."

Not liking the reply, the fawn struck his chest, knocking him down to one arm as it did. "This isn't a joke. I have to go find my friend."

"Astral!?"

-End of chapter three-

Hmm. Seems like they had an eventful evening.

Just so you all know, I fixed the title for chapter 3. (accidently used the doc. on my flashdrive, which I had somehow forgotten to upgrade. ^^' Opps… At least the chapter was all there. I'll be triple checking from now on to avoid a repeat, though) And as for those fawns, well, let's just say there's more to them than meets the eye ;)

Please feel free to review if you want to! :)


	5. Chapter 5: Shivering Embers

Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh Zexal, or any of the yugioh series for that matter.

Chapter 5: Shivering Embers

"Now, now." Hamartia cooed. With a swish of his hand, he summoned one last branch and silenced the young human as the barrier dissolved. "Don't worry. Your little elf is in safe hands."

He smiled upon hearing Yuma struggling against the branches. It was a vain attempt. The limbs were too thick and stubborn for a human to move. Yuma was going to be stuck there until he dismissed the spell. Or until someone found him.

"Aw, well, that's what he gets for playing games with my challenge." Tying the chimes he used to frighten his prey back onto his belt, they're song echoed with each step he took down the hall. His front was rather calm, but inside, he was fuming.

He had been hoping to see the old world magic at its best. Instead, the brat had refused to do anything other than summon that blasted Number. _'He's proving to be a tiresome opponent. But the stress I'll give in return will more than match what he's given.'_

Picking up the smell of cooked food, Hamartia's instincts told him that the Original Number was most likely waiting for Yuma in the kitchen. Trusting his nose, it led him down a few halls to the said room's door. Turning the knob, he entered. "Hello, little elf, I've come to…"

No one was in the room. But the window was open.

"Damn!" Unable to hold his frustration inward, Hamartia kicked the table, shattering the bowls and scattering the contents they held across the floor. "I should have covered that brat's mouth sooner!"

"Now, now. Hamartia." Whirling around, he groaned when he saw a familiar figure crawling through the window. "There's no need to get upset. I'm here after all."

"Phrixus, shouldn't you be back in your lab?" He asked as the guy gracelessly fell and kissed the kitchen floor.

Standing, his friend chuckled. "Your hunt must not be going well if you're getting moody. As for me being here, I'm afraid it's to ask you to change your plans a little."

"Why's that?"

"My equipment has picked up on something interesting. Number 201, Eshu, has unexpectedly awakened. It may be fickle when it comes to deciding when to activate, but you'll need to obtain it first or it'll cause a lot inconvenience. Or at least, more inconvenience," the scientist explained, his olive eyes flicking momentarily to the mess he'd made. "There's a reason why it's more commonly called the Trickster than the Joker."

"So I have to pause my hunt in order to steal the card. Great." Rolling his eyes, Hamartia slammed the side of his fist into the fridge. He hated changing his plans. "Alright, new plan. I'll capture both here and now. And you can help me."

If Phrixus had been a cat, his fur would have gone poof when his back straightened. "Me? How?"

"The Original Number is still in the building. Go find him while I deal with Yuma."

"Yuma?"

"The key-keeper and the Original Number's host."

"Ah." A humming sound suddenly filled the lodge, making them both smile. Phrixus walked over to the window and placed a booted foot on the sill. "I will have to quicken my pace if I want to find him. Good luck, Hamartia."

"Same to you," Hamartia returned as he moved out into the hall. The way Phrixus exited would have worried him, but he knew the scientist had his own method of hunting. _'He must know something that I don't. Oh well, as long as he catches his half of the prey, that's all that matters.'_

* * *

"Master Roku? Why _do_ you have a secret tunnel leading to the duel lodge?" Kotori asked once they reached its end. Which, interestingly, was the basement.

"In case of a fire." He explained after turning on the light. "If all of the exits were inescapable, I wanted everyone to still have someplace safe to go to."

"Oh. Good idea." Kotori acknowledged as they climbed upstairs. She tried not to imagine the lodge on fire, but her mind did it anyway. "I hope that never happens, though. This place is too precious for it to go up in smoke…" She stopped dead in her tracks when she walked through the door at the top. "Astral?!"

"Kotori?" The otherworldly being blinked a couple of times when he saw her. The little fawn, whom had somehow knocked him over, hopped to the ground and neighed at her, its little tail wagging faster than one would expect.

Tears flooded her eyes, but she tried to blink them back so they wouldn't fog her vision. After all of the worrying she had done today, seeing Astral safe was an overwhelming relief. And if he was safe, then that meant Yuma was, too. Kotori's tears finally ran down her cheeks as she rushed over and gave him a suffocating hug. "I'm so glad you're here, alive and well!"

"I'm happy to see you, too, Kotori." Astral managed to squeak out.

Letting go so he could breathe easier, she rubbed the back of her hand across her semi-blind eyes. "Astral? What happened? Where's Yuma?"

"The fawn," Astral said, glanced over at the baby deer. "It insisted I follow it here while Yuma left to see who made that strange, knocking sound."

"Knocking sound?" Kotori recalled the wall of roots surrounding the lodge and the danger Kari had mentioned to master Roku. There was no doubt in her mind this was no fluke. She gently, but firmly, gripped Astral's shoulders and made sure her voice sounded dead serious. "Astral. When was this? And where."

"We were in the kitchen when we heard it. Yuma thought it was you two, so he took off to greet you." She could feel his muscles tightening as his eyes clouded with worry. "Yuma's in trouble, isn't he?"

"I can't say for certain. Not until we find him..." She allowed the sentence to trail off. Her nose was picking up a faint, but familiar odor. One that was lighting up alarm bells in her head. "Is that...burnt wood I smell?"

Sniffing the air, Roku's nose wrinkled as it recognized it, too. "You're right. Stay here while I go check it out."

"No, we're coming, too." Kotori doggedly told him, standing up as she did. Astral stood as well.

Frowning, master Roku measured them with his gaze for a moment before nodding. "I can't stop you, can I? Fine, let's go find Yuma and see what trouble he's found together."

"Thank you, master Roku!" Exclaimed Kotori. Her excitement was short-lived when the little fawn tackled her legs, knocking her to the ground in the process. Her head was already pounding after it bounced off the floor. "Ouch!"

Turning her eyes to the baby deer, an uncomfortable feeling stirred at the back of her mind as those dark brown orbs stared back boldly in return.

"Are you alright, Kotori?!" Came Astral's voice.

"Y-yeah. Playful isn't it?" She quickly said, snapping her gaze back to her friends. No matter how hard she tried to shake that feeling it gave her off, it just wouldn't let go. Confused, she glanced back at the fawn.

Kotori swore she saw something else standing there for a moment. "What's your new friend's name?"

"I guess you could call it that." Astral replied as he picked the little critter up. Taking a moment to think, he finally said. "Hidari. For the spot on its ear."

"Cute," Kotori commented, forcing a false smile to her lips as she climbed back to her feet. As they left the room and followed the smell, she shoved her feelings concerning the fawn aside.

When they walked into the dojo, Kotori's feet momentarily glued to the floor when she saw the predicament Yuma was in. She gasped in shock, "Yuma! What in the world..!?"

"I'll go get my tools!" Master Roku exclaimed, darting out of the room faster than an old man should.

"He says that he's fine. But the Barian Tracker ambushed him and tried to force him into a duel, one that used magic instead of cards. He may still be in the building," Astral reported as the two of them raced over to Yuma's side.

"Wait? He told you? How?" She asked, bewildered. Yuma hadn't made a single sound, so what he said made her question her hearing.

"Telepathy," Astral clarified.

"Oh, that's so cool…" Kotori shook her head to refocus it on what was more important. "Never mind. I can express how awesome that is later. Yuma, why does he think you can use magic?"

"A misunderstanding he assumes. A big one in my opinion." Astral was quiet for a moment as Yuma told him something else. "I'm not going anywhere. Not until you are free from this…thing."

"If he's in the building, then, maybe…" Kotori frowned thoughtfully. The two of them could do a quick search to see where the Barian was, but she doubted she'd be able to stop him in a duel if the guy found them instead. And, even if she left Astral here, there was no certainty that his safety would be guaranteed. "If we go to look for him, you'll be put in danger Astral. But Yuma can't exactly help us protect you like this."

"Mmm," Yuma dejectedly mumbled through the branch.

"You know, for a guy who's always looking on the bright side of things, you get depressed awfully easy." Kotori half-teased. She smiled when a vein popped in Yuma's forehead along with the string of muffled words he tried to get out. "What did he say?"

"I don't know. He didn't use telepathy." A loud humming filled the room, making Astral jump a few feet into the air. "What is that?!"

Both of them turned to the door. Master Roku stood in the entryway, holding a _very_ _big_ chainsaw. It amazed her how his fragile arms were able to hold up its weight. And how Yuma was managing to _not_ wet himself. She began to pray that the elder's hand was as steady as he claimed it to be. "Hey, guess what I found! Haven't seen this baby in thirty years!"

"Uh!" Astral's eyes darted between Yuma and the revved saw, his heterochromia eyes growing as big as dinner plates. "But won't you hurt Yuma if you use that?"

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing…" Hearing Yuma making noise behind her, she looked at him. She got the message when his eyes gestured off to the side. Nodding, she grabbed Astral's arm. "Come on, let's give him room to work."

Sitting them both down at the raised platform ringing the dojo's border, her mouth fell slightly open when she finally took in the scorch marks covering the room. Even Yuma's clothes were singed. "I can't believe that Barian did all of this. It's like he's a sorcerer or something…"

"It explains the sudden explosion at the train yard, too." Astral agreed, eyeing the saw nervously as Roku began cutting.

Once Yuma was freed from his prison, he and Astral filled them in on what had happened since they were separated from her. Astral did most of the explaining however, since Yuma was constantly flinching from the first aid master Roku was giving him. By the time they had finished, Kotori found herself rather drained from the mixed emotions swirling around her head.

"He's definitely not like the Barians we've come across." Yuma winced as the needle punctured his skin again. Next to her, Astral jumped but otherwise willed himself to stay where he was. "Ouch!"

"It wouldn't be so bad if you held still." Master Roku growled as he stitched the gash closed. "Kotori, why don't you take Astral to one of the extra rooms and see if there are any good movies on? I want to talk to Yuma alone for a little bit."

"How about not," startled, Kotori's head spun to the door they had come thru. A pair of lilac eyes laughed at her from the doorway.

"Hamartia!" Yuma exclaimed as they all stood.

"Kotori!" Jumping again, she looked at master Roku. "Get them out of here."

"Y-yes, sir!" Even as she answered, Kotori's heart began pounding for a second reason. The feeling the fawn had given her earlier had return, and it was hitting her harder than before.

"What? No! We won't leave you-" Yuma tried to rebel but master Roku cut him off.

"Don't argue with me, Yuma! As my student, you have to listen to me." His eyes turned stone hard when he looked at his disciple. "Your goal right now is to protect Astral. You can't do that if something happens to you."

"But-"

"Go!"

Yuma's fists clenched so tight, his knuckles were turning white. She raised a hand to comfort him, but his voice stopped it halfway. "Kotori, lead the way."

Meeting her eyes, she saw that he still wanted to argue. But he also understood there was no other choice. Not with Astral's freedom, and possibly his life, on the line.

"Yuma! No! Even if it means-" Yuma grabbed Astral's wrist and forced him to follow as she guided them out of one of the dojo's other doors. The pair fell silent the rest of the way, leaving her to assume they were arguing telepathically.

"This is it," Kotori said once they reached the tunnel's entrance. "Astral, you go first in case the Barian shows up behind us."

"You next," Yuma insisted once their friend had gone in. Knowing it would be vain to argue with him, she walked into the dimly lit tunnel.

Kotori stopped however when she didn't hear his footsteps behind her. "Yuma?" Looking back, she saw that Yuma had halted in the middle of the doorway. The look on his face made her wonder if he was having second thoughts.

Walking over to him, Kotori took one of his hands and squeezed it. "Master Roku knows what he's doing, Yuma. He always does."

"I hope your right, Kotori." Reluctantly, he followed her deeper into the tunnel. "Why does he have a secret entrance anyway?"

"It's a fire escape."

"Oh, that makes sense-" A loud explosion from behind deafened Kotori's ears as the shockwave forced her face into the ground. She could tell that Yuma was trying to shield her from the hot ash that shot past them, but a few specks still burned her skin.

Glancing back at the door when the rushing air settled, they could see nothing but a bright wall of red before the doorframe collapsed in itself, blocking the way back into the lodge.

"_Master Roku!_"

* * *

"_Damn_!" Phrixus shouted as he was swept off his feet and knocked to the ground. Looking back at the building, he could see nothing but blazing orange flames. "Damn Barian Tracker! _Hamartia_! Your illusions better have told you those kids were _SAFE_ first!"

A whistling neigh brought his attention back to his front. Standing in his shadow was a fawn with a spot on its right ear. "Migi. If you're here, then that means the Fatal Flaw hasn't done them in. Let's just hope it stays that way…"

Getting to his feet, Phrixus followed the fawn back to the steps leading to the now incinerated lodge. It disappeared out of sight when they reached the bottom. Hearing someone screaming out the name of one of the kids, he silently thanked it. "You've showed me how to find them, haven't you?"

* * *

"Kotori? How long will it take for us to reach the exit?" Yuma asked between pants. His D-Gear told him it'd been a half-hour since they began running down the long tunnel, and he had tried calling master Roku several times. Each attempt left him with no answer, increasing his worse fears. And the fact that he couldn't get back into the lodge to check on the old man was killing him inside.

_"He's alive, Yuma. He's too smart to let a fire extinguish him."_ Astral told him for the fifth time, though, this time he was sounding less certain than before.

"I want to say another half-hour, but I can't say for certain." Kotori said, wiping away another tear as she sniffled.

Without thinking, he took that hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Astral says he's alive, and I believe it, too."

Kotori said nothing, only silently nodded.

His words may have been comforting, but, in truth, he wasn't really sure. Not when they should have been roasted if the doorframe hadn't caved in when it had. There was one thing he was certain of however. Hamartia was going to pay if master Roku had perished in the fire.

"Ouch! Yuma!" Kotori scolded, drawing him out of his thoughts. He realized he was still holding her hand, and he had accidently squeezed it too tightly when he was mentally absent.

"S-sorry. Guess I'm a little tense." His cheeks turned pink as he let it go. The lights above darkened, providing him with a distraction. "Astral, try to stay close, okay? I don't want to lose you if those lights go out."

"Right," Astral agreed.

"Maybe we should walk for a bit. It won't do us or master Roku any good if we collapse from exhaustion." Kotori reasoned after a brief silence between the three of them.

Seeing her point, he had to agree. "I hate to say it, but that does sound good. My muscles feel like they're melting."

_"Finally!"_ The mental exclamation from Astral made Yuma grin despite himself.

That is, until the ground below them started shaking. "What the _heck_?! Is this an earthquake?"

Feeling tiny pieces of grit sprinkling on top of his head, Yuma looked up at the ceiling above them. Huge roots were starting to break the cement apart, creating huge cracks that decorated it like an eggshell.

Before Yuma could call out a warning, those very cracks suddenly shattered apart, sending pieces of rumble and debris down on top of them.

Reacting with the fast reflex he had sometimes hinted at before, Astral was out of the danger zone within a flash. Kotori, like the fawn in Astral's arms, was frozen where she was at however. Thinking fast, Yuma darted forward and tackled her out of the way before she was crushed by one of the bigger chucks.

"You okay?" He asked once it settled, looking at her dust-covered face worriedly.

"Y-yes, I'm fine." She replied shakily, sitting up. "Those roots… They're from the walls surrounding the lodge."

"So Hamartia did this," Yuma muttered. Looking at the place where he'd last seen the otherworldly being, he smiled as Astral made his way over to them. The fawn he carried was oddly acting calmer than he was expecting, as if it was unfazed by what just happened. "How about you, Astral? Everything good?"

"We're both fine." Relieved to see them, Astral fell to his knees when he was back at their side. "You two?"

"We're alive, right?" Yuma said.

A light hit them at that moment. "Until you get home that is."

Snapping their heads to the exit's direction, Yuma gasped when he saw who the voice belonged to. "Kari! How did you know where to find us?"

"It wasn't easy. I'd thought you three had gotten fried until a neighbor pointed out this tunnel. I'm glad he was right." His sister said as she stepped around the rumble between them and her. Her eyes narrowed quizzically as she waved the flashlight around. "Where's master Roku? He said he'd be at the lodge when you guys arrived."

"He's…" Tears welled up in Yuma's eyes at the mention of his mentor. Next to him, Kotori whimpered.

Kari's hand suddenly fumbled with the flashlight when she saw the wet glistening in their eyes. "H-hey, it's alright! You know how old people are! They've lived far too long to let something like this finish them off. Why, I bet he's waiting for us at the exit even as I speak!"

"I hope so," Kotori choked out.

"I'm sure of it." Smiling, she offered them a hand up. "Let's go home, okay?"

"Miss? Did you find them?" Called a voice from somewhere in the dark, drawing Kari's light, and their eyes, to its owner. Who stepped on a rock and, losing his balance, crab-walked to the left until he fell over a giant chunk of ceiling. His legs twitched as he confirmed he was okay.

"That's the neighbor." Kari flatly said, slowly shaking her head.

Finding the exit sometime later, they were blinded at first by the red lights of the fire trucks when they stepped out of the tunnel's darkness. Yuma wasn't too thrilled to see the impossibly long staircase so close by, but he decided to get annoyed by that later.

"After the unpleasant excitement you've all gone through today, I bet you kids can't wait to go home." Glancing up at the man, Yuma saw that Roku's neighbor looked pretty mature and friendly with his lab coat and olive green eyes. Though the well-kept, powder blue hair he had added an oddly playful flair to his image. It wouldn't surprise him if the guy was a pediatrician.

"Yuma?" Whispered a voice in his ear. Glancing at Astral to see what he wanted, Yuma's breath caught in his throat. Leaning against a tree near the forest's border was Hamartia. "Um, Yuma?"

"I see him, Astral." Yuma confirmed as a pair of firemen came over to talk to Kari.

"Who?" Astral questioned, the look on his face going blank.

"What do you mean _who_? You pointed him out!" He whispered back, raising an eyebrow at Astral.

"There's nothing there, Yuma. I was going to ask you if you saw were the fawn went. I put it down a second ago and now it's gone." Astral said after looking at where Hamartia was.

"It probably went home." He muttered as his eyes wandered back to the tracker. Hamartia was indeed gone. As lightning flashed overhead, Yuma hoped he would stay that way for a while.

"Is something wrong?"

"Hm?" Yuma said, glancing up at the neighbor. "Oh, no. Just tired."

"Ah, I see. How did-"

"Hey. How about we go home, okay kids? The guys in the fiery-colored suits have agreed to leave you alone until tomorrow morning." Kari suggested, forcing the guy to hold off what he was about to say.

"Shouldn't we stay and wait for master Roku to show up?" Kotori asked.

Kari hesitated before she gave them an answer. "Listen. I know today has been _way_ more exciting than normal for you guys- not to mention the fact you all look ready to drop- so how about we just focus on getting you three home. I'll even rent a movie if that helps. For now, we just need to let the firefighters do their job, okay?"

"Sure." Yuma's voice came out weak, but he couldn't find the will to care. His physical strength was sapped by the craziness of the day, and Roku's unknown fate was already doing the same for his spirit.

Before they left, Kari turned to Roku's neighbor. "Thank you for your help, Dr. Phrixus. I wouldn't have found them without it."

"No need, dear. I am only thankful that we found them before something bad happened. They are very important after all." Reaching into his coat pocket, Dr. Phrixus handed her a card. "Bring them over tomorrow and I'll give them a free checkup to make sure there aren't any hidden problems. Just in case."

"Thanks." Kari said as she herded them back to the car. Closing the door behind him, Yuma could feel the car rattle from the nearby thunder. The blinding downpour succeeding it shielded them from the awful sight of the fire.

Yuma hoped it shielded them from Hamartia, too.

-End of chapter four-

Gotta love the rain…

Ugh, finally got this darn chapter up…Thanks to something popping up at the last minute, I ended with a huge mess of a week (between projects and a few other unpleasantly madding things, it was quite the loop lol) hence the really late update. If nothing else crazy comes up and pulls a fast one on my schedule, the next chappy will be up either tomorrow or Tuesday. Hopefully...

Anyways, I hope you guys found this chapter enjoyable! :)


	6. Chap 6: Shining Light into the Dense Fog

Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh Zexal, or any of the YuGiOh series for that matter.

Chapter 6: Shining Light into the Dense Fog

The storm hadn't let up much by the time they got home. But it wasn't calming down, either. A good thing, Astral had told him, since it would blind Hamartia for a while in return. Yuma wasn't too sure, although, it did make sense. He just wished the rain would stop reflecting their uncertainty as he walked into the house.

"Kotori, how about you and Astral go setup the movie? We'll go get the snacks," Kari said after closing the door behind her. Grabbing Yuma by the collar, she dragged him to the kitchen.

"Ouch. Was that necessary?" He asked, rubbing his neck after she released him.

"So. What were you looking at?" Kari asked, skipping over his question and pouncing on him with her own. Folding her arms, she gave him that stern look a parent usually gives to a misbehaving child.

"Huh?" Yuma pretended to ask, already picking up on what she was talking about. After what happened with Roku though, he wanted to keep everyone else from getting involved for as long as he possibly could.

"You were staring at the woods while I was talking to the firefighters. And you said something to your friend about some guy over by the trees." She replied with a hard stare.

"Oh, that was nothing." He fibbed, shrugging the facts off as if they didn't matter.

"The scared look on your face said anything but." Pulling out a prepackaged bag of popcorn out of a nearby shelf, she placed it in the microwave and set the timer. "You're thirteen. Therefore, whatever trouble you're in is my business. And I _know_ you are in trouble. I just don't know what kind yet."

"I-"

"Don't bother lying. The Fates aren't with you tonight." She cut in before he could decline. Refusing to tell her what was going on, Yuma walked over to one of the cabinets opposite of her and began taking out some candy and chips. "Fine. Be that way. I'll just take away your dueling privileges and forbid you from leaving the house until you do."

"You can't do that!" Yuma shouted, spilling a bag full of round, colorful candy that hop all over the counter.

"Wanna bet. Grandma Haru is going to be gone most of this week thanks to the upcoming festival. Aside from me being an adult _and_ your elder sister, that leaves me in charge." Clenching his teeth together, Yuma pulled out a bowl and placed the runaways in it. While he was at it, he dumped a couple other candies into the mix as well. "Sulk all you want. It'll get you nowhere."

"Astral's parents are out of town for the week just like Kotori's, so can he stay at our place for a while?" Yuma asked, firmly keeping his eyes on the bowl as if it could drown out the feeling that everything was crumbling around him.

"Find. Just don't invite your whole school over. The poor house is already getting crammed," Kari said as the microwave beeped. "Before I take Kotori over to her house to get her things, ask Astral if he needs to go to his to do the same. I'd prefer to make only one trip out between now and bed." Yuma could hear a smirk in the next sentence she spoke. "While I'm out, I also plan on stopping by the store to get us a special treat."

"Special treat?" He questioned, looking at her.

"That caught your attention," his sister said with a jubilant grin as she dumped the popcorn in a bowl. "By the way, the note you left didn't explain why you guys decided to spend the whole week at the duel lodge. I won't ask tonight since it's obviously going to be a touchy subject, but you better tell me soon."

"Fine." Yuma grumbled out before taking the movie treats into the living room. He was sure he had escaped from anymore question trivia until he walked into the room.

"Have you told her about Hamartia and what he plans to do?" Kotori asked, her voice sounding slightly hoarse from the tears she'd wept today. She was holding her arms, too, he noticed, and the skin around her grip on them was slightly pale.

Frowning, he shook his head. "No. I don't want her involved."

"But, now that master Roku's..." She faltered for a moment before picking another word. "Missing, who else can we turn to? We can't fight off Hamartia on our own like you want. Look what he's already done!"

"I know. But look what happened when master Roku got involved! Hamartia set his place on fire and probably kidnapped him, too." Yuma hid a grimace when an image of the red wall of flames they'd seen after the explosion crossed his mind. "Heck, I wish I hadn't brought you into this either. I'll probably end up rescuing you, too!"

"What?! Who says I'll be the one needing to be rescued. You haven't exactly gotten away from him without a scratch. Just look at yourself! You have more burns than Astral and I combined _and_ your arm got cut open!" Kotori snapped, hurt by what he said.

"At least you wouldn't have a chance at getting hurt if I hadn't!"

"Um? Yuma, Kotori…"

"Stay out of this, Astral!" They both shouted at the same time.

"Hey!" All three sets of eyes darted over to Kari, who was standing in the doorway with the bowl of popcorn balanced in one palm and a bottle of pop in the other. "Did you two hit your heads while you were in that tunnel? Because neither of you two are acting right in the head."

"No-" They began.

"Good." Kari firmly said, putting an end to that conversation first before she moved back to what she was originally going to say. "Kotori, you might want to grab your raincoat before we leave. That goes for you, too, Astral if you're coming with us. It's pouring cats and dogs out there." She informed as she placed her cargo on the coffee table. "Yuma can watch the oven while we're gone."

"What are you cooking?" Yuma asked, his eyes following Kotori regretfully as she hastily left the room.

"Just check on it in twenty minutes." Kari told him as she pulled out her keys. Finding the car key, she stabbed each word she said next with it before she left. "And don't touch that popcorn or start anymore fighting or else I'm sticking you in there after its out."

"Hmph," Yuma grunted. A somber frown flickered across his face when he heard the garage door close. "I think I'll change into my pajamas. The smell of smoke coming off my clothes is making me nauseous."

"Are you sure it's the clothes and not the argument you had with Kotori?" Astral asked, crossing his arms. "You obviously weren't thinking when you said that last part."

"I'll bring you back one of my extra sets of pajamas since you don't have any," Yuma said, ignoring the otherworldly being's question as he exited the room. It didn't take long for Astral to follow him. "Even when you're human, you're still shadowing after me like a pet."

"Kari overheard part of the conversation, you know," Astral casually said.

"Great. Not looking forward to that talk _at_ _all_." He grumbled. Climbing up his bedroom's ladder he said, "Stay here. I'll toss down the pjs so you can get dressed in the bathroom."

Once Astral was taken care of, Yuma began changing. As soon as he was done, he examined each of the burns he had gotten during his 'fight' with Hamartia. Most of them were on his arms with the exception of one on his cheek. He was relieved to see that they were all first degree and small. It wouldn't surprise him if they healed by the end of the week in fact. But it brought a greater concern to his attention._ 'If Hamartia is capable of controlling and limiting fire like this, what else is he capable of?'_

He tried to not chew on the thought, but he ended up doing so anyway until Astral called him.

"Um, Yuma? A little help?" Looking down the ladder, he flinched when Astral blindly walked into a wall thanks to the turquoise shirt covering his head.

"Ouch. All right, I'm coming. Just quit moving before you hurt yourself even more." He said as he made his way down. Fixing the shirt, he smiled when Astral's head finally poked out. "There you go…"

Yuma frowned. Now that Astral's face was close to his, he saw a strange, barely visible film covering the artic blue orb. Concerned, he decided to try and see if his sudden suspicions were true. "Hold your face still. I need to try something."

He moved two fingers around the eye's vision. There was movement. But no reflection.

Putting the side of his other hand on the bridge of Astral's nose to prevent the other eye from influencing it, he tried one more time. "Uh?" The results were the same.

Yuma tried to recall all of the times he'd seen any reflection in that eye. A worry as cold as ice gripped his heart when he suddenly realized that he never had. At least, not since opening the door that released his otherworldly friend.

"Yuma?" Asked Astral in concern, drawing his attention away from his thoughts.

"Never mind. I'm just tired. Go ahead and go back to the living room. I still have a couple of things I need to finish up." Yuma said, walking over to the bathroom.

"If you're sure, Yuma." Confused, Astral watched him for a moment before hesitantly leaving.

Closing the door behind him, Yuma pulled out his D-Gear. Outside of the Barians that were after them, he knew only one other person who truly understood anything about Astral. He just wished he didn't have to drag him into this mess. "Hey, Shingetsu? Are you awake?"

"Hey, Yuma! Why are you calling at…" There was a pause as Shingetsu checked the time. "Nine-thirty at night?"

"It's Astral. He's become human." Yuma told him. "But that's not why I'm calling."

* * *

"I thought he said he only had a _couple_ of things to do." Astral muttered as he covered his face with one of the couch's pillows. After ten minutes of mulling over ways to defeat the Tracker and another five on what happened at the lodge, he was starting to understand what a headache was. "Maybe I should focus on returning to my original form, if that's possible. It might stop all of this madness and save everyone from anymore heartache."

"But then you won't be able to fully experience this world for yourself!" Jerking the pillow off his face, Astral immediately tossed it at the one he saw above him and abruptly jumped off the couch. "Offt! S-sorry, sorry! It's just me!"

"Shingetsu? What are you doing here?!" Astral exclaimed, staring at the said person when he saw him standing behind the sofa.

"Uh, well… Yuma and I were… planning on watching scary movies all night tonight. We had planned it at school last Friday… but he never called me so I came over." Shingetsu explained. The way he kept pausing made Astral doubt him, though. "Yuma's just checking whatever's cooking in the oven, right now. He told me you were in human form, so I wanted to officially meet you."

"Everything alright?" They both looked over at the doorway just in time to see Yuma poking his head curiously into the room.

"Sorry, I hadn't meant to scare him, but it kinda happened anyway." Shingetsu said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You called him, didn't you? I thought you didn't want anyone else involved." Astral probed, already smelling that something was wrong with this scenario.

"What, no! I was just so absorbed in you being human this morning that I forgot about it, that's all." He lowered his eyes at the boy. "Oh, come on, Astral! Drop the irritated look. So what if I didn't tell you? It's not that big of a deal. Shingetsu won't bite off your ghostly head."

"Um, Yuma? He's not a ghost…"

Yuma simply shrugged, apparently not caring. "Can you watch him Shingetsu? I need to go check the oven again."

"Yuma means well, Astral. I'm sure he's just tired or, uh, something." Shingetsu tried to reassure him when he glared at Yuma's retreating back. "What movie are you guys watching?"

"_'Sparrow and the Twin Stars'_." Astral nonchalantly said as he plopped back down on the couch.

Feeling the fabric give way above him, he looked up to see Shingetsu studying him with a thoughtful frown. "You look like you've had a busy day."

"That's an understatement-" A clanging sound came out of the kitchen along with a shouted cuss word. Hearing Yuma's distress, both of them were up and in there within a few seconds.

"Ouch! Damn it." Yuma growled while he gently rubbed the stitches in his arm. Sitting crooked on the oven rack was the pan he had apparently tried to pull out. Noticing them, Yuma grinned. "Sorry. I didn't mean to alert you guys."

"No worries. Here, let me get that for you." Shingetsu took the oven gloves from him and placed the pan on the stovetop. "The tracker did that, too, huh?"

"Thanks. While we were escaping Hamartia this morning, something collided with my arm." Yuma told him before glancing down at the pan and gushing. "They look _so_ good. I wonder what Kari plans to do with these brownies?"

"Kari will bake you if you eat them." Astral casually reminded him, well aware that Yuma's older sibling would do _something_ to him if he did. "It's amazing that you didn't burn them like you did the toast."

"You're not going to let me forget that, are ya?" Yuma growled while Shingetsu simply giggled.

_Thump!_ They all stiffened when something fell over in the other room. "What was that?"

"Shingetsu, can you stay here with Astral while I go see what that was? Hopefully, it was just the girls, but it could be..." A serious expression crossed Shingetsu's features as he nodded.

Refusing to let Yuma face Hamartia alone again, Astral was about to follow Yuma anyway when Shingetsu grabbed his arm. "Uh-uh. If Yuma thinks it might be dangerous, then it's better to stay here. Plus," he took out a pair of knives from a nearby drawer. "You can't help me cut the brownies if you leave."

_'You just came up with that to keep me from going!'_ Astral mentally accused. Heaving out a sigh, he brought up a hand and tried to massage his growing headache away. "Yuma had gotten most of those burns from facing the tracker alone. I don't want that to happen again if I can help it."

"I'm sure it's not the tracker this time. We would have heard something by now if it was." Shingetsu said positively before he frowned. Grabbing the kneading hand, he examined the back of it. "That cut looks nasty."

"I hadn't realized I had gotten hurt," Astral said, slightly stunned to see it there. It was funny- and kinda scary- to see his skin torn for the first time. Not to mention the brown crust of dried blood outlining it.

Beginning to get uneasy by the sight of it, Astral went over to the sink to clean it off. It didn't take long for him to notice something else he had somehow missed earlier. "Hey, Shingetsu? What's this?"

Reaching for the strange water gun-looking thing, he tried to pick it up. The moment he squeezed his grip around it, a stream of water shot out past him. Astral jumped and immediately released it. "I-It attacked!?"

Looking at Shingetsu, he blinked when he saw the irritated look on his wet face. Astral had to cover his mouth to muffle his sudden urge to laugh at it.

"Hey, Shingetsu!" Yuma called, returning faster than Astral had thought he would. And with a small box in his hands to boot. "I need to talk to you real quick!"

"About what?" Shingetsu asked, still looking a little peeved as he grabbed a paper towel and dried himself off.

"What happened to you?" Yuma asked, looking Shingetsu up and down. "You look like something Kari might drag in."

"Ooh, really?"

"Eek!" Yuma exclaimed as Kari and Kotori appeared next to him, adding another surprise.

"Be glad my hands are too full to pummel you right now." Kari said, dropping her bags on the counter. "All right, out of the kitchen, kiddies. I need room to work."

"Astral accidently got me with the sink's spray," Shingetsu explained as they exited.

Feeling his cheeks heat up, Astral muttered an apology. "Sorry, Shingetsu. I hadn't expected it to do that."

"Rei, why _are_ you here?" Kotori asked.

"We were supposed to have a horror movie night today, so I got worried when I didn't hear from Yuma. I came over not too long ago to see if everything was alright." Shingetsu replied, sticking with the same story he had used earlier.

"I see…Hey, Yuma, Astral, guess who called on our way back!" Kotori bubbly said as they walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "The firefighters!"

"Did they find master Roku?" The pounding in his chest increased after Yuma asked the question.

"He's unconscious and a little singed, but the doctors think he'll make a full recovery!" The whole house was suddenly filled with excited cheering from all of them. It was so loud, Kari had to come in and shush them so they didn't wake Grandma Haru up.

"Alright, now that we know master Roku's alive and well, let's start the movie!" Yuma exclaimed, reaching for the remote.

Kotori smacked it out of his hand. "Wait for your sister!"

"Sheesh," Yuma muttered, but otherwise complied. Instead, he reached for the popcorn bowl. "Astral, Hamartia called you an elf earlier. Do you by chance have a clue as to why?"

"He called me that in the woods, too. I don't know what it is, though." He said, taking a couple pieces out of the bowl. He jumped when he heard the popping they made between his teeth, making the three of them laugh at his reaction. The salty, buttery taste was good, but he still loved the taste of rice more.

"An elf?" Questioned Kotori after she was finished giggling. Her eyes suddenly lite up as an idea hit her. Standing, she made her way behind the couch, grabbed the tips of Astral's ears, and gently wiggled them up and down. "Actually, these do look rather elfish along with your eyes. If we dressed you up as one, we'd probably fool a lot of people into thinking you were a genuine elf."

Astral still had no clue what they were talking about, but the squinting Yuma and Shingetsu were giving him made him wonder if it was a bad thing.

A horrified look crossed Yuma's face. "What the heck?! You really _do_ look like one."

"No one has noticed, right? It may not be that big of a deal." Shingetsu calmly said.

"We haven't been to anyplace crowded with people. But they _will_ notice if he walks by." Yuma slapped his face. "My alien friend looks like an elf. Can this day get any weirder?"

"You should be used to both by now, Yuma. The only reason why we didn't notice it in the first place is because we've been around Astral for a while." Kotori frowned as she thought of something else. "Could that be how the tracker found us this morning? Because he knew what would be different?"

"But Arito, Gilag, Misael, and… Well, all of the Barians look completely human." Yuma mimicked her frown and held his chin as if he was a detective. "Maybe it's because he's from Astral world."

"Maybe…"

"I'm back! Start the movie." Kari exclaimed when she walked in with a tray of brownies topped with chocolate syrup and a scoop of ice cream, putting a halt to their conversation as she did.

Thanking her after he retrieved his bowl, Astral spooned out a big glob of ice cream. As put it in his mouth, he heard Yuma whisper urgently, "Not that big! You'll get brain-"

An icy shock swept through Astral's mouth and all the way to his brain. Biting his lips, a small whine slipped out as he endured the sudden, painful chill.

"That's a brain freeze," Yuma said, amusement playing on his smile as the other two quietly giggled. Shaking his head, he added, "Stick your tongue on the roof of your mouth after you swallow. It'll help relieve it" Following his advice, Astral sat back against the couch in relief when the remedy worked a few moments later. "Told ya."

"What is this movie about, anyway?" Shingetsu asked curiously as the previews played.

"The Sparrow has to save the Night Galaxy and its princess from being destroyed by two rogue stars," Kotori explained excitedly from her seat at the other end of the couch. "It's supposed to be really good."

"Oh." Shingetsu sunk deeper into his seat as the movie started. "This is going to be half romance, isn't it?"

Astral wasn't sure because he didn't get to watch much of it. He could recall everything up to the point where the Sparrow met the Night Galaxy's princess, but the sugar rush from the dessert had quickly dried up, leaving the exhaustion he'd been unconsciously holding back to overcome him…

_ "This must be what the humans call 'a dream.'" Astral decided after he opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by trees._

_ Arrf! Arrf!_

_ "Hmm?" Turning around, he saw a dog with an odd ridge of hair down its back. "Who are you?"_

_ The dog whined and took off down a path he hadn't seen before. Chasing after it, the world seemed to be made of fog. The forest on either side of him blurred. Even the path below him felt like air. Before he knew it, he was back in his original form, levitating after the dog instead of running._

_ The dog never stopped running though. In fact, it disappeared after some time, but Astral kept going, certain there was something at the end…_

Astral's ears picked up what was happening in the movie as he slowly stirred from his sleep sometime later. His hairline ached slightly from the diadem thanks to whatever his head was resting on, but at least he recalled the fact he was human this time. Too tired still to open his eyes, Astral chose to simply listen to the rest of the movie.

_"I am sorry, my sweet Sparrow. But this is Destiny, and nothing can stop its iron hold over us."_

_ "Princess Nightingale, surly this can't be Destiny! We can still find a way to stop this curse! You deserve to sing in the sunlight like everyone else." _

_ "No, my good friend, though I wish I could. Living in the Day with you and our friends will remain a cherished dream of mine. But it cannot be so." There was a clang from what sounded like chains and grunts of struggle from the main hero. "Goodbye, sweet Sparrow. Listen for my song whenever you are lost in the Night. Because it will be me guiding you safely home."_

_ "Princess Nightingale! NOO!"_

Astral jolted fully awake upon hearing the scream and discovered that the movie was ending. Taking a look around, he saw that he wasn't the only one who had fallen asleep.

Kotori's head was resting on Yuma's shoulder as she slowly drifted off. Yuma himself had already blacked out, so Astral had no way of truly knowing how he felt about it. In the chair, Kari was snoring up a storm, yet, she wasn't loud enough to be much of a distraction. The only one who was still wide awake was Shingetsu, and he looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.

Seeing no point in watching the movie now that it was ending, Astral tried to curl up against the couch and fall back to sleep. It didn't last long, however.

"Okay, time for bed kiddies," Kari yawned, turning off the TV. "I can't believe I dozed off."

"You and me both," Yuma replied as he stirred from his own doze. Stretching, he knocked Kotori's head off his shoulder, waking her in the process.

"Kotori, you can steal the guest room. I'm sure the boy's won't mind sharing Yuma's." Kari sleepily stated as she picked up the two, nearly untouched bowls and walked them to the kitchen.

"No probs. I already have blankets and pillows spread out on the floor for us," Yuma said, letting out his own yawn. Once their dishes were in the kitchen, he led them up to his room.

"Yuma, what are we going to do if Hamartia shows up tomorrow?" Astral asked, sure of the fact that he had already told Shingetsu about their current situation.

Even though there were three sets of giant blankets on what little spare space the room had left, Yuma choose to climb into his hammock. "Let's sleep for now, Astral. We can figure out something in the morning."

Astral wanted to argue like he usually did during these situations, but he was now beginning to understand the effects of sleepiness. His eyes were already getting heavy again, and even his thoughts were becoming sluggish.

Without saying another word, he curled up between the sheets of the nearest makeshift bed and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"He's out like a light," Yuma confirmed after hearing the light snoring Astral was making.

"Good. What was in the box?" Shingetsu asked, dropping his human masquerade and jumping straight to the point.

Getting up, Yuma walked over to his dad's artifact collection and pulled out the box. "A note saying Hamartia was watching over master Roku and a vial with some strange, glowing blue liquid."

"Trackers were trained by my people to hunt down important targets a long time ago. They were often gifted with the rare ability of wielding elemental magic. And they were deadly. I'm surprised one still exists after they were wiped out a century ago. Even more so by the fact that Astral's being hunted by one." When Yuma brought the box over to him, Shingetsu reached in and pulled out the vial. His eyes widen the instant he saw its contents. "This is from Astral's dimension!"

"Really?!" It was the first time, outside of the Numbers and the Key, that Yuma had seen something from Astral's home here in his world. "What is it? Should we destroy it?"

"I…" Shingetsu frowned at vial. "I don't know. The energy is similar to Astral's home, but destroying it… I don't know. I want to say it's to knock out Astral so he could be exchanged for Roku's safety but, if the tales are true, this doesn't sound like the Tracker at all. Opening it may release something bad, though."

"I agree. Hamartia has made it pretty clear he can steal Astral without batting an eye." Yuma said, recalling their 'duel' and what the Barian had said during it. "But that's not what he's after right now."

"Hmm?"

"He thinks I have magic so he wants a duel." He smiled at Shingetsu's dumbfounded look. "He misunderstood what happened at the train yard."

"And you didn't tell him that!" Shingetsu hissed, barely keeping his volume down.

"I tried to, the guy was too antsy to start the fight to listen." He casually said.

The corner of Shingetsu's mouth curved into a small snarl. An expression Yuma was a little surprised to see since it was worn so little. "This is one heck of a mess. What does he want with Astral?"

"He said something about Astral being in a more '_manageable'_ form."

"Astral has a human body now. If he can't be taken to our dimension, he can at least be locked away from you in this one." Shingetsu said matter-of-factly.

Sickened by the thought, Yuma imagined a prison around Astral as he looked over at his sleeping form. "Locked away? As in, caged like an animal in the zoo?"

"That would be the easiest way."

Crushing the Key in his grip, Yuma could feel its points piercing his skin. "Locked away," he growled angrily. "No. I won't let that happen. Astral's just starting to see the world through my eyes. It would be cruel to take that away from him at any point in time."

"Relax, Yuma. We'll stop the Tracker before he can do that." Shingetsu reassured sternly.

"Got that right." Setting down the box, he made his way over to Astral and slipped into the space behind him. Seeing the diadem, he removed it so it didn't hurt his friend's head while he slept. "Why couldn't this one day be evil Barian-free for Astral's sake?"

"Subordinate Yuma." Yuma instinctively gave Shingetsu a salute. "It's good to be protective. You have to be if we are to keep Astral safe, but those Barian criminals will always be waiting for a moment to strike. Remember that."

"R-right," Yuma agreed, placing the diadem on the floor space above the pillow. Ignoring the light stinging coming from his burns, he rested his head on his folded arms and stared at the back of Astral's head with a troubled light in his gaze. "Did you get a chance to see his eye up close?"

"Yes. However, I can't determine what is going on with it. But that isn't what concerns me the most." Yuma hummed to let him know he was listening. "The features Kotori pointed out should've transformed into human features and his markings should have vanished as well. Instead, it looks more like his original self was simply fleshed out. I don't fully understand what's wrong, but it may be because you don't have all of the Numbers. That's just speculation, though."

"So, Astral is only half human?" Yuma asked with a heavy frown. "That's not good, is it?"

"I can't answer that yet." Shingetsu soberly said as he slipped under his own set of blankets. "We should keep an eye out for anything unusual until we have a solid one. The last thing we need is to have something go wrong with Astral's current form."

"You're right. I just hope nothing like that happens." Silence crept across the room after he spoke those words. The only thing that broke it was the hard drumming of the rain outside until…

"You're kidding!" Both he and Shingetsu looked up when they heard Kari passing by their room. "Great, so our family doctor is on vacation. Well, what do you know about Dr. Phrixus? We met him earlier but I'm not sure…" There was a brief silence. "Really?! That would explain a lot… Sure, let's go with that… Alright, we'll see you tomorrow at ten. Thank you!"

"Dr. Phrixus?" Shingetsu questioned quizzically, glancing over at Yuma as he did.

"He's a neighbor of master Roku's. The guy's a bit clownish, but he seemed harmless enough when we met him." Yuma explained. At least, the guy seemed harmless with his doctor persona. It was hard imagining Dr. Phrixus as any kind of threat.

"I think I will join you tomorrow. Just in case the tracker is up to something." Shingetsu said, signaling the end of the conversation by curling back up under his blanket and falling asleep.

Resting his head back on his arms, Yuma tried to do the same as he listened to the beating song the hail made against the window's glass.

-End of chapter six-

Ready to see the 'doctor' tomorrow, my sweet Zexal kiddies. :3 *Halloween music begins playing in the background along with an evil laugh*

Wow. That chapter took longer than I expected. O.o Biggest chap so far I think... But now that a few key players are here, our lovable friends can now jump into the next frying pan!

Before I sign off, I want to quickly thank you all for reading and following OC!

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chappy! :) (Even if that movie scene got a bit cheesy...)


	7. Chapter 7: The Nightmare Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh Zexal, or any of the yugioh series for that matter.

Chapter 7: The Nightmare Begins

_Ghostly laughter echoed around Yuma. He was back in the open glade where he had first seen Hamartia's human form, but something was different. It was a dream, yet it did not seem like one. "Oooo, it's the Key-Keeper. The foolish Key-Keeper has visited us! Us! Us!"_

_ "A Fool! A Fool! A Fool!" Chimed the others after the one spoke. Another single one spoke next.  
"Only a Fool would dare to play with a Cat!"_

_ "A cat?" Yuma questioned. A shiver ran down his back before he could stop it._

_ "Cat! Cat! Cat!" Laughter echoed through the trees bordering the glade. "A Cat who plays with its prey until it collapses from exhaustion!" _

"Ooo_kay. So… what cat are we talking about?" _

_ Wicked laughter erupted from everyplace possible. Yuma had to cover his ears before they bled it was so loud. "What cat. What cat? What cat!"_

_ Sudden silence. A soft voice said, "The Cat who stalks your little whelp. He creeps closer, you know. Closer and closer. Soon he will have him by the scruff-" The voice rose into a high-pitched tone. "And tear your little whelp out of your paws!"_

_ "Wait! You're talking about Hamartia and Astral! Aren't you?!" Yuma felt his heart pounding against his ribs as he shook where he stood. _

_ "The Cat is about to steal away your whelp." The voice suddenly took on a sweet, sing-song tone. "And there's nothing you can do."_

_The other voices picked up the last sentence and sang it over and over like a child's nursery rhyme. "And there's nothing you can dooOO. And there's nothing you can dooOO. And there's nothing you can dooOO."_

_"_There_ has to be _SOMETHING_! He could end up hurting Astral._ _NO! I know he will. _PLEASE!" _Yuma shouted, begged really, at the voices, staring at them with desperate eyes. _

_ "Alright, alright," purred one voice after they had all calmed down. A stir of hatred flickered inside him when he heard a touch of Hamartia's own in it. "There is one way."_

"WHAT!" _Yuma shouted, his own voice picking up a bite to it. _

_ "Fight. Fight with your gold fangs. You may die in the process because a Cat has claws that can swipe at its opponent more easily than a Wolf's. But, if you are to be a protector, you will not care." The voices chorused with cold iron. They sweetened, as if smiling, when they finished. "Now will you?" _

_ "Of course not! But I don't understand what you mean! I am not a wolf!" Yuma shouted at them._

_ "Not a wolf?" More laughter broke out. "Oh, my. Oh, my. You may very well die!"_

_Yuma closed his eyes as the laughter bore into his skull. Soon, it was all he could hear until it felt like he'd gone deaf…_

Yuma released a small, throaty scream and bolted onto his elbows as he deeply panted. His skin shivered from the cold sweat that had poured out of him during the strange nightmare. Oddly enough, he had somehow rolled over onto his back in his sleep. Unlike the dream, it made sense since it was the usual position he slept in, though he didn't quite know if it was truly out of habit or because he had been writhing in his slumber. Either way, he was glad it was over with.

Slowly, he relaxed as the nightmare's strong effect on him faded away. The room was still dark, but it seemed to be trying to comfort him after the harsh sunlight back in the dream-glade.

_ 'Astral!'_ His head immediately snapped down to the sleeping form next to him. Yuma nearly jumped out of his skin for a second time when he saw the cold blue and warm yellow irises that were the otherworldly being's trademark. Swallowing his fear back down, he smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Bad dream."

"About what?" Astral asked, concern written in his knitted eyebrows and slightly dropped mouth.

"N-Nothing. Just a bad dream. One I should forget." He reassured. Relaxing back onto his side, he loosely wrapped his free arm over Astral's shoulder. "Let's go back to sleep, okay?"

"I hope that's all it was," Astral said, reluctantly resting his head back on the pillow.

_'I hope so, too,'_ Yuma thought. Looking out the window, he saw that the moon was completely gone amidst the twinkling stars outside. _'It better be.'_

Glancing over the back of Astral's head, he saw a set of purple eyes watching them from the darkness. "Sorry if I woke you, Shingetsu. I had a nightmare."

"I heard," Shingetsu said. Sitting up, he glanced at Astral to make sure he was asleep before he spoke. "What was it about?"

"Hmm?"

"Some of the old tales spoke of how trackers could manipulate the energy created by dreams to scare their targets. I don't believe in them, but we shouldn't cross out the possibility."

"Oh, I see your point." A shiver ran down his back at the thought. "It didn't seem like the tracker was there, though. Unless you want to count disemboweled voices who were practically teasing me and speaking cryptic messages the entire time."

"Disemboweled voices?" Shingetsu said, sounding skeptical. "That does sound a little strange…I can't see how that would help the tracker, however. What did they say?"

"That Hamartia would steal Astral away soon. They also kept comparing us to wolves and cats." Yuma said, recalling the dream with complete clarity. "I asked them if there was a way to fight back against him, but they simply told me I had to use 'gold fangs'."

"Maybe it wasn't…_Hamartia_ then." Venom leaked into Shingetsu's voice when he said the tracker's name. It surprised Yuma at first, but he assumed it was more aimed at their enemy than anything else. "What are wolves?"

"You don't know what wolves are?"

Shingetsu sounded quite embarrassed. "I know much more than Astral does about your world, but there's still a lot I don't know about it."

"Oh. I guess I never thought about it that way." Now that he was thinking about it, it would explain some of the wacky things Shingetsu had done in the past. "Wolves are wild animals here on earth. They howl to each other at night and live in packs out in the forests."

"They sound interesting." Shingetsu looked down at Astral as he pondered something for a moment. "Hamartia sounds like the type who savours the games he plays. Cats do, too. Maybe that's why those voices compared him to them."

"Yeah, that does sound like him," Yuma agreed, gritting his teeth together as he thought about what Hamartia said and did back in the glade with the sakura tree. Even from a distance, the tracker's voice had been crystal clear for his ears. "He enjoys scaring us, and he likes to see it, too."

"It bothers me how my world was once so desperate that it needed to create a force like the trackers. This one is wasting no time in showing us what monsters they were." There was a somberness in Shingetsu's voice then that Yuma had never thought he'd hear from the usually sunny boy. It made him question what it was that had sent the parallel worlds into a war with each other. Whatever it was, it seemed more and more like it was only causing more chaos than peace.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Yuma quoted.

"I guess," Shingetsu replied. Curling back up under the blanket, he appeared to have fallen back asleep.

Laying his head down, Yuma tried to do the same. He wasn't sure if he would be able to, but, eventually, he fell into a restless snooze…

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"What the _heck_!" Bolting awake, Yuma held the blanket in a death grip. Looking at the rabbit hole, he saw Kari sticking out of it with a pair of metal pot lids in her hands.

"Finally! Do you three have any idea how long I've been trying to wake you two?"

"Three bangs?" Yuma drowsily joked. Noticing the empty space next to him, he asked, "Where's Astral?"

"Not even close. Now get up and get dressed. We have to leave for your appointment with Dr. Phrixus in thirty minutes." Kari said, jabbing a finger in his direction. "And your friend is eating breakfast downstairs along with Kotori. He actually got up at a reasonable time."

"Fine, we're up." Yuma growled. After she left, he smashed his face into the pillow and groaned. Feeling the tip of his finger bump something, he opened a heavy eye. The box containing the vial and note was resting above Astral's pillow. "Hm?" Opening it, his heart skipped a beat when he found a new message: _See you at ten! - S & L_

"Shingetsu? Do these initials sound familiar to you?" He asked, his hand slightly trembling as he held out the note.

Taking it, the Barian yawned as he looked it over. "No, I don't think they're from my world. The scorpion insignia in the upper left-hand corner may be a clue though."

"I'll take it to Kari later, then. She might recognize it from one of her articles." Tearing it off, he had barely placed the half with the message written on it within the box when he heard someone coming up. The hair told him who it was before they appeared. "Um, morning, Astral. I thought you were eating?"

"I'm done," Astral simply told him as he climbed the rest of the way up. Kotori must have ambushed him at some point because his birthmarks were covered up with skin-tone matching make-up. Luckily, it was harder to notice he wasn't human now- or, at least, not some fairytale come to life. "I figured you would want to know that Kari did some investigating on Hamartia early this morning. The tracker is apparently in league with a star observatory called Cat's Eyes."

"Cat's Eyes Observatories? You mean that strange building outside of the city with the scorpion on it..." Yuma looked down at the insignia. It was the same one he'd seen painted on that very building whenever he went to see master Roku. _'How did I miss that?!'_

"Yuma? Are you all right? You've gone pale."

Quickly hiding his shock, Yuma picked his brain for a distraction. Seeing that Astral was still in his pjs, he came up with an idea. "Looks like you'll be borrowing from my wardrobe again."

Astral plucked the hem of his shirt and stared at it in downright confusion.

"Try dressing him up to look like you, too. It might prove helpful and confuse the tracker if he shows up." Shingetsu pointed out as he pulled out some fresh clothes from his bag.

"Good idea." Secretly grabbing the other half of the note when he got up, Yuma buried it inside one of the dresser drawers as he rummaged around for something Astral could wear. He found a dark, jade-green shirt, a jacket similar to his own only purplish-red, and a white pair of pants that had blue stars at its ends instead of yellow moons. "Here, Astral! Try these on. You're close to my height so they should fit."

"Yuma, is something wrong?" Astral asked, giving him a concerned look while Shingetsu left the room.

"Yeah, we have to leave soon and none of us is even dressed." He half-fibbed before ushering Astral out of the room so he could get dressed. Once he was finished putting on his usual attire, he took out the vial containing the blue-glowing liquid and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.

_ 'Better take this with me so Lilybot doesn't get ahold of it and accidentally blows the house up_,_'_ he thought as Kari called for him to hurry up. Before he left, he shoved the box behind some of his father's artifacts so his robotic friend wouldn't discover that, either.

Climbing down from the attic, Yuma nearly ran into his sister's chest when he bolted towards the door. Sensing something was up when he saw the same stern look from yesterday, he took a step back. "Um, Kari? Is everything okay?"

"My office. _Now_," Kari demanded without giving him an explanation. Or blinking.

"Why?" The unexpected iron glare she gave him sent him scurrying to the door.

_ 'What is going on?'_ Yuma thought as she fell in step behind him like a prison guard escorting a high-risk prisoner. Entering the room, his tension was momentarily forgotten once he saw Astral spinning in one of the spare computer chairs Kari kept in her office. Fighting back the urge to giggle at the nauseous look on his face when he stopped, Yuma walked over and sat on the empty desktop next to him. "Having fun?"

"You won't be once I start demanding answers." Walking over to her computer, Kari brought up a file with a picture of the tracker in its upper-right corner. "Sin

ce I overheard Hamartia's name last night, I decided to do some snooping around- and I almost didn't find him until I found a slip-up in a web-link. I had to breakdown quite a few firewalls, but I finally tracked it down to one place. A place I want to know how you got involved with."

"So you found a file on Hamartia? That's strange." Astral replied, a thoughtful look crossing his features as he swayed the chair side-to-side.

"I found one on you, too."

Both of them stiffen as Lilybot fired up the vacuum outside. "A file on Astral? That's not possible."

"I would have read it just to see what an astronomy lab wanted with a thirteen year-old. But it's encrypted with a language I can't find a translation program for." Kari told them as she pulled up the other file. A hand clamped down on his forearm hard enough to make him grateful it wasn't anywhere near his stitches. Both of Astral's forms were pictured on the file. "Considering how secretive this observatory is, I am finding it hard to believe this is some kind of joke on their part." Kari looked him straight in the eye. "And this information was kept under one of the best lock-and-key systems I have ever broken. So if I don't get the truth this time, I am going to do more than simply take away your dueling privileges. I will be confiscating your deck, too."

"But you can't do that! If I have to duel him-" Yuma bit his lip as fear wispily teased at the back of his mind. He tried not to imagine what Hamartia would do if he got his hands on his sister.

"Yuma? I know how you feel, but maybe it would be wise to tell her? We can barely stand on our own as it is." Astral suggested, pulling his legs up against his chest. For a moment, all Yuma could do was stare at him in disbelief.

"No _way_! And you know why we can't, too!" He countered heatedly, fear beginning to get the better of him.

"I know. It happened to master Roku." Astral turned his gaze away from him then and cradled his chin between his kneecaps. The heavy frown blooding his expression doused some of Yuma's anger. "It would be nice to still have a helping hand, though."

Yuma fell silent, unsure of how to reply. Even if he liked the thought of having a helping hand, putting his sister's life on the line was out of the question. Besides, they had Shingetsu now. With another Barian by their side, _surely_ they could stop Hamartia. Always fight fire with fire. Right?

"I became a part of this the moment I saw you on the video footage. And there's no way I am going to back down now that that creep has hurt you." Kari cut in, picking up a pen off the desk's surface and pointing it at him. "You better swallow that here and now because I'm not backing down this time."

"Uh…" Carefully leaning back on the desk so he didn't bump the monitor behind him, he glanced up at the image of Hamartia on the screen.

Though it would reassure them, Yuma couldn't admit that they had help now. Not without breaking his promise with Shingetsu in the process. But if he didn't say something…_'There's nothing I can do, is there? I can stop Astral from saying anything, but Kari's too bull-headed. She will stalk me if it means she'll learn the truth. That's how she got her job after all.'_

_ "Heh, just like you. Must be in the_ _blood_,_"_ Astral told him telepathically. Yuma gave him a death glare in return.

"Well? Are you going tell me why this guy's after you? Or am I taking your deck?" Kari demanded, holding out her hand. She had apparently thought that Yuma was going to refuse like last night.

"I'm not giving you every detail," Yuma firmly told her after bitterly swallowing some of his defiance. Realizing that his hand was fidgeting with the Key, he dropped it back onto the desktop.

"Find. It's better than being blind." Leaning back in her computer chair, she waited for him to begin.

Taking in a deep breath, he began. "Hamartia's after us-"

"Mainly me," Astral quickly added.

"Sheesh! I don't want her to know _those_ details!" He gently barked, sending the other a forced glare.

Crossing his arms and legs, Astral swayed the chair slightly away from Yuma. "I think she has a right to know at least _that_."

Instead of fueling the debate, Yuma rolled his eyes and continued on without commenting. "He wants to take Astral away. We don't know where to, but he thinks it's a game and he's willing to spill some chaos over us in order to make things more interesting for himself."

"So you have a _psychopath_ after you? Honestly, Yuma, this has to be the _biggest_ problem you've dragged home yet." Resting her hand on her forehead, Kari slowly shook it as she took in her sibling's dilemma. She sat up straight suddenly. "I think I know where he's planning on taking you, Astral!" Turning her chair to face the screen, Yuma watched as she pulled up a picture of a huge laboratory. "Remember that observatory I told you about? It's _not_ just an observatory. Rumors say that C.E.O. has its own research facility called Cat's Eyes Labs. If Hamartia is an employee, then maybe Cat's Eyes itself wants you. If that's the case, he should have a scorpion insignia somewhere on his person."

"A lab?" Yuma questioned, sharing a glance with Astral.

"Yep. Rumors also say they experiment with energy fields similar to the one seen in the Heartland finals." Kari said matter-of-factly. Spinning her chair around until she faced Astral, she asked, "Why is a lab out to get you, Astral?"

"We don't know for sure," Yuma quickly said when Astral opened his mouth. At least he could be open with her about _that_. _'And I think she's onto something, too. Hamartia said a friend of his tweaked the sphere cubes…' _

_ "I was about to say that…"_ Astral's internal voice said, his gaze giving a nearby screen a scowl. _"And as for Hamartia's friend, they could very well be from Cat's Eyes."_

"I think, after the doctor's appointment, we're going to head down to the police station and report all of this. Even if we don't have any evidence, they will at least be aware of the situation-"

"No!" Kari blinked when he stopped her from saying more. "We can't! Astral…" Lowering his hand away from the Key for a second time, Yuma met the otherworldly being's perplexed gaze. "Astral doesn't have any records. If we bring their attention to him, he may be put in more danger."

_"Records?"_

_ "It's something we use to identify people. Like where they were born and when." _Yuma quickly explained.

_ "Oh! That is a problem. A _big_ problem."_ Astral agreed once he contemplated what that meant for himself.

Looking at his sister, he saw that Kari's eyebrows had disappeared behind her bangs. "No records? Like, none whatsoever?"

"I can't explain that to you yet." Yuma met her eyes and held them so she knew he was serious.

"What about you?" Kari asked, looking at Astral, whom simply shook his head and looked away. "_Great_. So how do you two plan on explaining this to Dr. Phrixus? Even if the appointments are free, he's _required_ to write down the results."

"Well, um, we…"

"In other words, you don't have a plan. Why am I not surprised." Kari said, clicking the end of the pen over and over in silent irritation. "Unfortunately, we need to leave here in five minutes. We'll just have to wing it, then. Maybe if everything checks out okay, he'll neglect that part of his job. Hopefully."

"If he's anything like what he was last night, I'm sure he will." Yuma said, putting on a smile as they followed his sister out of the room. "What time is it anyway?"

"Eight-thirty. We have to leave sooner than we normally would because of the explosion yesterday. The whole thing sent debris everywhere, blocking a few major roads as it did. Someone even ended up with a train whistle in their pool." Kari explained as they passed by a window.

"Really? Wow." Warm, pale gold sunlight kissed his skin as his fingers gingerly touched his stitches. Glancing out at the newly birthed sun, Yuma could see nothing but the fog they eerily lit. It was pretty, but it made his stomach queasy with unease as he followed everyone to the car.

* * *

"Man, couldn't you have left that at home? You would have looked a little more human, then." Kotori heard Yuma playfully complain to Astral from her seat next to him. Sitting in the massive hospital's third floor waiting room, they were already completely bored out of their minds. And it hadn't been more than five minutes.

"No. It was a part of me once. I would have worn my clothes, too, but they're dirty from yesterday." Glancing at them, she saw Astral's ears wiggle a little when a phone rang somewhere nearby, earning a mild glare from Yuma. No doubt he was wishing he had insisted on Astral wearing a hat to hide them under. "As for looking human, maybe we should consider finding a way to unto this."

"But, why?" All Kotori could do was stare at him. She only broke her gaze to follow Yuma's when he glanced at Kari, whom was currently busy flipping through a Times magazine.

"Because, Yuma," Astral began once they were sure she wasn't paying attention. "Ever since I became human yesterday, Hamartia has bombed a train yard, burned down the duel lodge, attempted to kidnap us, injure you, and is possibly using master Roku as bait. If I returned to my nontangible form, he should lose his purpose for hunting us and leave."

Seemingly taken aback, Yuma placed an elbow over the back of his chair and stared out the window, his eyes clouded as if reflecting on something. Comfortingly, she placed her hand over the one crushing the chair arm beneath it. Consciously or not, his hand rotated over and squeezed it in return, bringing a blush to her stunned cheeks.

"No, Astral. You're going to stay human as long as you like." Yuma finally said, smiling. Hooking Astral's neck with the inside of his elbow, he pulled him into one of the hugs she'd sometimes seen him sharing with Shingetsu, accidently clonking their heads together as he did. "Ouch. There were going to be problems anyway, and the tracker's no different. We just have to solve is all!"

"But…"

"No buts, Astral. We will figure something out. I promise."

"Aww, how cute! Brotherly love." All three of them nearly jumped out of their seats when a very cheery voice spoke behind them. Turning in their seats, the boys immediately leapt out of their chairs at the sight of Dr. Phrixus' face at eyelevel with theirs. Kotori just leaned back and stared at the doctor, his chuckles brightened by the newly done streaks of pale yellow in his powder blue hair. "Sorry, kids. I couldn't resist a good laugh. So, how is everyone doing?"

"Good. None of them are showing any bad symptoms yet," Kari said, completely ignoring the pair as she set down the magazine. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "By the way, what exactly is with the hair? That is, if you don't mind me asking."

"No, no! I don't mind at all! My sweet little daughters just love changing it into different colors. I love what they come up with so I show it off whenever I can." Dr. Phrixus said, his overly happy face giving off a creepy vibe instead of a friendly one. Clapping his hands together, he grinned. "So, which one of you three should we start with first?"

None of them said a word.

"Excuse me, but Doctor, you need to have that paper signed. Remember?" The nurse called from behind her desk.

"Oh, right," Dr. Phrixus chuckled. "Miss. Tsukumo, I'm afraid I have something you need to sign while I take the children to a room. It's not insurance related or anything, just some wacky new policy for the staff. A joke our boss has decided to play, really, in the name of competition. But don't tell him I said that or I'm sure to be fired."

"Um, okay," Kari hesitantly stood. Before she left, she looked down at the four of them. "You kids behave until I return, all right?"

"Sheesh, Kari. We aren't five." Yuma muttered, receiving a glare from his sister in return as she walked over to the desk.

"Don't worry, the lady will tell her which room we're in." Dr. Phrixus reassured before gesturing them to follow to him. A hallway and a half later, he unlocked a door and waited for them to enter.

Patting the table after following them in, Phrixus looked at Yuma. "So how about I start with that arm of yours? The redness around it tells me it was fairly recent,"

"Um, sure." Yuma replied as he hopped up. Firmly holding his arm, the doctor examined it closely.

"It's stitched up good, but I'll give you a shot of antibiotics to stave off any future infections." Pulling out a kit out of the cabinet hanging on the wall, he retrieved a syringe and a bottle filled with a clear liquid. Obviously not wanting to watch, Yuma's eyes wandered away from the needle. Kotori would have done the same, but a twinkling from a pair of rhinestones on the doctor's coat drew her attention.

Kotori had to force herself to keep breathing when she saw that it was set in the stinger of an orange scorpion pin. The insignia of the observatory Kari had told them about.

Seeing her gaze, Yuma's followed it. "Do you work at Cat's Eyes Labs?"

"Hm?" Dr. Phrixus asked, puzzled for a moment before looking at the brooch. Yuma didn't seem to notice the needle as it withdrew from his skin. "This? It was my dear aunts. She always wore it whenever I saw her. Now, let's check your vitals next."

"If his aunt wore that, does that mean she works there?" Shingetsu whispered as the doctor finished with Yuma and called up a nervous Astral.

"She may have…But it sounds like she's been gone for a while now." Kotori whispered back as Yuma took a seat next to her. "What do you think?"

"I doubt he's anything dangerous, but I won't be comfortable until we're back in the car." Yuma replied, eyeing the doctor with wary suspicion that lasted even after her turn began.

"My, I'm quite impressed. You kids are as healthy as a herd of horses." Dr. Phrixus said once he was done checking her vitals. "I hope you kids don't mind if I step out for a moment. I want to check on your guardian and make sure she isn't scheming with that mischievous secretary."

Once the door was closed, Kotori hopped off the table. "Do you think he's really a scientist and not a doctor?"

"It's hard to see that guy as a scientist. But that pin of his isn't helping," Yuma admitted as he slouched in his chair.

"It has me on edge, too…" Astral trailed off, his ears tipping up briefly. "Where's that hissing coming from?"

"Hissing?" Her and Yuma questioned at the same time.

"I hear it, too!" Almost instantly after Shingetsu said those words, Kotori felt a tingle in her throat. She tried coughing it out, but that only lead to actual coughing as her vision began blurring. The others were doing the same around her as Kotori's consciousness gave way…

* * *

"Astral. Wake up, Astral." Someone urgently whispered to him. Groggily opening his eyes, Astral saw Shingetsu leaning over him in the dimly lit room. "Good, you're awake now."

"What happened?" Propping himself up onto one arm, he quickly registered how empty the room was. There was absolutely nothing around except the dust on the floor and a table in the corner. It was a completely different room and they were the only ones in it. Panic began stirring within Astral, but he took a deep breath and tried not to think about their predicament.

"We were knocked out, I think. The door's locked and there's a shadow under it, no doubt a guard. I haven't been able to figure a way out." Shingetsu informed him.

"There has to be a way…" Astral muttered as he tried to clear his muzzy head. "We were in a hospital room when we blacked out, right?"

"Right. Although, I have no clue how much time passed us by while we were out. An hour or a day maybe?" Scuffing the ground with his foot, Shingetsu gave it a crestfallen look. "It's hard to tell. I just hope we can escape this place before Dr. Phrixus and Hamartia show up."

Standing up, Astral took a good look around. "There has to be a way…"

An idea popped into his head as he remembered a certain Sparrow episode:

_"Yuma? How is the Sparrow breaking the ceiling like that?" He had asked after seeing the hero magically lift a perfectly square-shaped part of the ceiling into the space above._

_ "He's not breaking it. The ceiling is made of ceiling tiles. They make a room look nice but they're very light and easy to lift." Yuma explained after a good laugh._

"That's it! Shingetsu, there _is_ a way out." Astral exclaimed. Climbing on top of the table, he shakily stood and reached for a tile. "Darn! I can't reach it."

"Here, let me try." Appearing next to him, Shingetsu was able to knock the tile out of place with his fingers. "Good idea, Astral! We can crawl up here and escape!"

"You'll have to do it alone. I can't reach it with my height."

"That won't be a problem. I'll give you a boast up first, then, I'll lift myself up there, too." Kneeling down, he cupped his hands together and waited for Astral to place his foot on it so he could do so. Almost losing his balance, Astral half-jumped up and grabbed the tile's support frame. Pulling himself up, he took care in keeping his hands and feet off the surrounding tiles so he wouldn't break one and leave a sign of their passage.

"See?" Shingetsu said as he placed the tile back in its original place after he'd joined him. "Everything's turning out for the best. I bet we'll even be out of here before they suspect a thing."

"I hope so," Astral replied. Heading towards the direction the door had been facing, they cautiously and carefully made their way through the ceiling, avoiding the brittle tiles as much as they possibly could. It was slow going, but it looked like they would be able to slip pass any suspicion. Until…

"Hi!" Came a cheery female voice from their right. Distracted, Astral's hand landed on a tile and pressure he placed on it caused the thing to rip open. Withdrawing his hand and backing away from the obvious clue he'd just made, he turned to glare at the girl. She was covered in shadows, though he could barely make out her pastel-yellow hair and the eyes they framed looked almost black thanks to the lighting. "You two shouldn't be up here."

"Neither should you." Shingetsu said, sounding awfully startled himself. After a thought, he added, "Why are you here?"

"You're one of the doctor's daughters, aren't you?" Astral questioned, recalling the same yellow striping Dr. Phrixus' hair.

"My father is a SCIENTIST! Not a _doctor_." She snarled. "And you are not allowed to escape the hunter **_Original_** **_Number_**!"

A surge of energy knocked both him and Shingetsu back into the tiles behind them. Stars danced around Astral's vision after banging his head against the linoleum below. Rubbing the throbbing spot, he stiffly sat up. "Augh. I don't think she was a friend."

"No joke-" Shingetsu's eyes widened as he fervidly looked around. "This is the hospital! They didn't take us to the lab like I thought they would, and that clock says we were out for only a couple hours if I'm reading it right. I wonder why they didn't secure you after we were KO-ed."

"Simple. Bait." Looking over his shoulder, Astral saw Dr. Phrixus load something into a strange, bowlike object. "Hamartia is currently hunting your friends. He feels that having you in the area will encourage Yuma Tsukomo to stick around instead of retreating. He and his little girlfriend should be awake soon, actually."

Before Astral could ask where Yuma was in the building, Shingetsu grabbed his wrist and forced him to follow as he ran away from the scientist. "Shingetsu, wait!"

"No Astral! That object in his hand isn't safe-" Something whizzed past Astral's ear, deafening it for a moment. In front of him, Shingetsu's back jolted straight as a muffled cry vibrated from his throat.

Worried that he was hurt, Astral asked, "Shingetsu? Are you…"

"I'm fine," the energetic boy quickly reassured. Passing by a tray full of equipment and fragile glass vials- whom somebody had carelessly left in the middle of the hallway- Shingetsu kicked it. After rolling for a few feet, it fell over, sending glass, surgical tools, and no longer labeled chemicals flying into the air. Seeing it coming his way, Dr. Phrixus girlishly yelped and retreated back a little so he could avoid any unwanted injury.

"Drat! Why is there ice blocking some of these halls? I feel like we're in a damn maze." Shingetsu muttered to himself as they finally found an unblocked route. Which, thankfully, had two more cleared hallways not far from where they were. "Yes! Astral, we're out of his sight now. I want you to take one of these and find some stairs outta here."

"What about you?" Astral asked as they came to a stop. He was reluctant to leave Shingetsu behind to an unknown fate. Especially one under the control of one of the Barian's friends.

"Don't worry about me, Astral. I'll be fine. You're his target after all." Grinning like the Cheshire cat in that strange movie he'd once seen, Shingetsu added, "It's for the best if you are ever going to escape."

"Uh, but…" He gasped when Shingetsu suddenly stumbled.

"I'm find! Just being clumsy as usual." Shingetsu said, his lips tight at the corners. Before Astral could reply, he was shoved down a hallway. "Go, Astral! If he catches you, he will no doubt lock you up in a cage where we may never see you again. If that happens, Hamartia won't be the only one Yuma will have to face alone- he'll have all of Cat's Eyes, too."

"Fine, I'll go. But only if you find Yuma and help him escape Hamartia when you do." Astral pleaded, seeing the truth in his words. His skin was starting to shiver however as he secretly added, _'In case I get caught trying to do the same.'_

Shingetsu gave him a warm smile, "Will do. Stay safe until we meet again, Astral."

"You, too." Racing down the hall, Astral couldn't help but wonder as to why Shingetsu would want to stay behind. Even if it was so he could distract Dr. Phrixus, there was something else that seemed…_wrong_. _'You better be okay, Shingetsu. Because Yuma would feel the same way if something bad happened to you.'_

* * *

"Drat! I _missed_." Phrixus moaned as he reloaded his wrist crossbow. Judging by the flinch he made and the splatters of red-glowing fluid that dotted the floor, it appeared that the other boy had been struck by the syringe instead. "One dose left. I was foolish to think I only needed two. If I miss again, I will have to pull out the heavy-duty stuff and-"

"I don't think so!" With shocking speed, the fourth child, Shingetsu he recalled, popped out from around a corner and kicked him in the gut. The act propelled him to the floor and sent an acidity taste up to his mouth. Phrixus cursed as the stuff slide back down his throat.

Holding his stomach, Phrixus slowly stood back up. Now that he was taking the time to look over the kid's eyes, he realized he'd made a near-fatal mistake by assuming there was nothing special about him. "You're not from this world."

"That's my little secret." The wink the kid gave him brought a smile to his lips.

_'Smartass_,_'_ Phrixus thought with a chuckle. Sticking his thumbs in his pant pockets, he ignored his aching midsection and watched the symptoms gradually rise to the surface like bubbles in water set to boil. "No, not any longer. The drug is already taking effect."

"Drug?" The kid frowned and glanced down at his shoulder. The fabric around the wound was already stained with blood, but Phrixus doubted it was anything bad.

"I'm a scientist who has been working with the Barian for some time now, so I know one when I see one. In fact, I've been developing… _things_ for them," he pointed at boy. "One of them was a special formula engineered to knock out any energy being parading around as a human. It has no effect on me, but even a small graze across one of your kind's solidified skin is enough to render them unconscious within minutes. As I am sure you are noticing."

Despite their struggle to stay open, the kid's eyes were already two-thirds of the way closed. Soon, Phrixus could walk past the Barian while he snoozed the drug off. "Careful. You're beginning to stumble. If you're smart, you'll step aside and relax before you crack your already dizzy head on the floor."

"No. You are right about me not being human, but, as a guardian from the Barian world, I cannot a-allow you n-near…" Falling to one knee, Shingetsu was beginning to slur and his breathing was growing deeper. Another minute, and he would be in dreamland.

"Yes, you will. A physical body has laws of its own. Ones which _we_ cannot fight against. So what makes you think _you_ can?" Phrixus patiently asked. He didn't care if the kid answered him. He just wanted to give the tranquilizer time to kick in so he wouldn't have to worry about losing a limb. A down Barian wasn't exactly something to play with- even if they were sedated.

Shingetsu made an attempt to stand only to fall onto both knees and his hands instead.

_'Almost there_,_'_ Phrixus thought as he pulled out a blue and green D-Gear. "Hamartia, heads up. We have a coyote in this wolf pack. A few drops of the drug got into his system, but not enough to keep him down for long- and I don't have any more to spare. I can clip him for now, but you might want to break off the fight and deal with him before he's able to return to his Barian form. The last thing that needs to go wrong is us hunters being hunted by a third party."

"Two? And here I thought you would be playing your games." He questioned Hamartia as the Barian finally appeared to have collapsed.

"Ah, so the cat was outfoxed by a rabbit. Oh, I am gonna have fun rubbing your nose in _that_ later. All right, all right, I'll quit while I'm ahead. Just be careful of the clip when you take care of him. It's still a prototype and I'll need to record its performance once it's returned." Ending the call, Phrixus kneeled next to the young Barian. Pulling out a bracelet-looking device with red markings across it, he picked up the nearest wrist and clamped it on. He smiled when he heard multiple clicks. "Good luck. You'll need it now that Hamartia's coming with revenge on his mind."

Standing, he looked away from the young Barian when he heard a feline growl. "Revenge is definitely on Hamartia's mind if he summoned you, Enyo."

End of chapter 7

And so the frying begins! Let's hope our Zexal kiddies can stand the heat now that our villainous pair is setting up a new fire….

There's the close to part one of three! Sorry it took me so long guys, I kept having conflicts unfortunately both in life and in the story… But I'm glad no one was scared off by the Halloween thing though (or at least, I hope. Sorry if I did scare anyone ^^' I was just trying to be silly…though I hope Phrixus gave the kids a reason to be afraid…)

Anyways, a special thanks goes out to my cousins real quick for helping me out! 3 And to you guys, too, for following O.C.! Especially after that long wait.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chappy! Be ready, though, because things are about to gradually get tense!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Scattered

"Easy, Kotori. Don't move too fast, okay? You may be a bit dizzy after being drugged like that." She heard a voice say to her. Opening her eyes, she saw Kari kneeling beside her on the floor.

"I was drugged?" Kotori hazily asked, placing a hand on her forehead as she slowly sat up. She quickly realized that she was still in the checkup room.

"Yeah, I was too. That nurse caught me off-guard and got me with a handkerchief full of chloroform. Darn witch…" Kari growled, slamming her fist into her hand. "I was barely coming to when I saw some doctor in a blackish-blue lab coat carrying Yuma off to who-knows-where. If _only_ I hadn't left you kids alone…!"

Grabbing the edge of the bench, she lifted herself back onto her feet and tried to ignore the cold mist covering her heart after hearing about Yuma. The last thing she needed to do was to fall into a worrying heap anyway, not with everyone's lives at stake. "Where's Astral and Shingetsu?"

"They were already missing." Someone knocked on the door before they entered. Kari immediately guided her behind her back when she saw who it was. "_You're _the **_bastard _**who **_hurt my brother_**!"

"He hit the mark for once when he called you a shifty vixen this morning. Snarling at a predator bigger than you are will get you in trouble though." Hamartia casually said from where he stood in the doorway. Somehow, Kotori doubted he was flirting with Kari.

"Who says _you're_ the _bigger_ predator? And _don't_ call me **_vixen_**!"

"He called you _a_ vixen. As for you being a vixen, I don't see how comparing someone to a chew toy is a compliment." Hamartia tilted his head as if considering something. "Actually, there's a lot of what you humans say that doesn't make much sense, but that may be a culture clash issue."

"Culture clash?" Kari questioned, her voice filled to the brink with revelation as her head bob up. "Then, my suspicions were right? You aren't from-?"

"The word 'from' can hint at many places, my dear. You need to be more direct." Hamartia said with a sudden chuckle.

"Cat's Eyes is a star observatory. So you tell me, E.T.!"

Kotori couldn't help but giggle when the Barian's grinning face fell into one of utter confusion. The big, bad tracker had apparently never seen the movie.

Regaining his composure, Hamartia said, "E.T. is not my name."

"It's Hamartia, I _know_." Kari said, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Watch it, human. I may just choose to kill you off instead of using you as a means to keep your brother from running off." Hamartia calmly snarled, not taking the returned taunt well.

_ 'He still wants to fight Yuma with magic!'_ Kotori felt the world around her grow cold when the thought struck her. It would explain why Hamartia hadn't just taken Astral and left them there like he should have.

"If that's the case, you guys made a bad move. There are people here and somebody's bound to notice something sooner or later." Kari told him, still oblivious to the truth.

The lights suddenly dimmed. Bringing up his finger, Hamartia began drawing something into the air. Lilac-colored, glowing smoke was left behind wherever it went. The older each image got, the more…_solid_ it became. Clinging and dancing around each line, the misty wisps only faded away when the air-conditioning kicked in. Kotori heard Kari curse under her breath as a hovering spider-web slowly appeared. An illusion.

"The founder of Cat's Eyes was determined to make sure it always had the advantage over any threat, so she strung a big web that exists to this very day." The tracker explained when he was finished. He pinched one of its silky strands. "All we had to do was pull a few of those strings, and we were able to subtlety evacuate this place without our prey noticing."

"That's impossible! I checked every news report before we left. The evacuation should have been reported!" Kari exclaimed in complete shock.

"Strings, my dear. Strings. Now," Hamartia pointed his still-smoking finger at her. "Little dove, you need to come with me. We have wasted too much time here as it is."

"No way, you creep!"

"Don't worry. My friend has something cooked up for you. I need to release the bird though so I can draw out the hawk." Whistling sharply, the tracker caught Kari's wrist in an icicle. "There. You can sit on the table if you want while you wait."

"This is to force Yuma into fighting you with magic he doesn't have, isn't it?" Kotori asked, forcing herself to stand tall as she stepped out from behind Kari despite the adult's protests. When Hamartia gave her a scrutinizing frown, she continued. "You misunderstood what happened at the train yard. Those trains are scheduled to run at certain times. It was just a coincidence."

The air in the room grew thick as the tracker silently stared her down. It felt like she was staring back at a dangerous animal, one of which seemed to be deciding whether to tear her throat out there and now or not. Finally, Hamartia spoke. "Little dove, you better flutter out this door when I move or I'll roast your tail feathers before I break your Dark Colt's neck."

When he stepped aside, Kotori froze for a moment and glanced at Kari. "Kotori, don't just stand there! Run! Find Yuma and get out of here. NOW!"

That one word sent her racing pass Hamartia and down the hall as fast as she could. Kari's voice seemed to bounce against the walls as she did. "You **_bastard_**! If you dare lay **_one_** finger on them, I will _personally_ **_kill_** you **_myself_**!"

Kotori barely caught his response as she neared a corner. "If _he_ cannot find the courage to finish you off, then, I _will_."

"What?!" She exclaimed, automatically looking back. Which she instantly regretted as pain hit her head and knocked her backwards to the ground. "Ouch!"

"Ow! Kotori!" A familiar voice elatedly said.

Looking up, she felt a stroke of happiness when she saw who it was in front of her. "Yuma! You're safe!" A burst of fire struck the linoleum behind her, almost as if it was questioning her on the truth of her words. "Ah! Never mind, we have to run before Hamartia barbeques us!"

Grabbing her hand, Yuma was instantly on his feet and pulling her into an empty lab room. Closing the door behind them, he asked, "Are you all right?"

"I think so. Yes," she said as they moved to the back. "This isn't going to help, you realized that, right? All he has to do is burn down the door."

"Um, no?" Yuma sheepishly said, scratching the back of his head.

Sighing, Kotori shook her own in disbelief. "You're such an idiot sometimes, I swear."

"Hey! I am not!" Yuma grunted without meeting her gaze. She knew what was going on in his head when his hand gripped the key around his neck. "He didn't hurt Kari, did he?"

"No. I think he came to mess with our heads. Only…" When his eyes met hers, she suddenly felt like breaking down. "I think by telling him the truth about you not having magic…I think he may be planning something darker now-"

Both of them nearly jumped out of their skins when the door opened a crack, letting in light as it did. Looking over at it, a girl was staring at them with teal-green eyes. Her hair was taffy pink and it was pulled over to one side and over her shoulder. It sort of reminded Kotori of a comet's tail. "Um, hi? Why was that scary man after you? He's long gone now, y'know… Was I interrupting something?"

"We… don't know." Kotori told her. Sharing a look with Yuma, both of them of looked down at their still joined hands, blushed, and immediately let go. "Why weren't you evacuated like everyone else?"

"Um? Bathroom?" The girl nervously replied, shouldering the door.

"When you gotta go, you gotta go, right?" Both of them dumbly stared at what was in the girl's arms as the door finally finished opening.

It was the fawn with the spot on its left ear that Astral had when she'd found him at the duel lodge.

Hidari.

* * *

A little worn out and having lost his way in trying to find Yuma- or, at this point, any of his friends- Astral stopped in front of a window and sighed. It was almost as if he was immune to the comfort of the warm sunlight as he scanned his surroundings. Which was a feeling he found very disconcerting in itself now that he was separated from Yuma.

_'It's strange. Earlier, there were nurses and doctors wondering around. Now, it's like everyone's vanished.' _Astral shivered and glanced down at the overflowing river below instead.

"Even a pro swimmer would get swept away in those currents." Astral jumped where he stood and snapped his gaze to the voice's owner. "You left me with quite the surprise back there. If some of the tranquilizer hadn't gotten into your deadly friend, I may have said sayonara for good. Thankfully my bad aim turned out to be my good luck.

"Now," as Dr. Phrixus pulled back the bowlike object's string, something glinted red in the sunlight. "Let's hope my archery skills stay true…"

Astral bolted down the hall and down a nearby staircase. When he heard the doors open above him, he took a risky chance and jumped to the next floor. And he landed perfectly, if wobbly. It was the giant red wolf growling in front of him that nearly sent him over the railing.

"Got ya!" Phrixus exclaimed, snatching up his arm and placing a hand over his mouth before he had the chance to run again. "Thanks, Enyo! Wait? Shouldn't you beEEEE-"

Astral did the first thing that came to his mind, and a sweet, metallic taste filled his mouth. The scientist's high-pitched squeal deafened his ears as he broke free from Phrixus' grasp the moment he able to. "**_Damn_**! I forgot how _hard_ those Astral beings bite in human form!"

The clicking of what he assumed was the wolf's claws followed him down the stairs. Placing his hands on the next floor's door latch, he released a small scream as an awful new feeling came to him. A searing heat lit his skin, bringing tears to his eyes as he hugged them close in an effort to shield them from the new threat. As the pain slowly faded, he noticed that everything looked like it had been dyed red. "He must have gotten me with something like earlier…"

"Nope. This is an adaption of the Barian sphere cube that I made. I call it the translucence field." Phrixus said, appearing on the steps as the giant wolf leaped down and stood by his side. Blood dripped from his hand, a testament to how hard Astral had chomped down on it. "As long as it's covering the inside of the hospital, no one can get in or out. Only me, Hamartia, or Enyo can break it."

"You created this?" Astral asked, carefully avoiding the latch when he backed into the door. He gasped when it disappeared behind him. "Wah-!"

"Hey!" A familiar voice said after he had fallen against someone. Blinking, Astral looked up… and his jaw dropped. "What? Did you expect the door or something-?"

Shark's eyes narrowed then, scrutinizing him it seemed. It wasn't until Dr. Phrixus spoke up that he'd broken his gaze and gave his attention to the scientist. "I'm afraid that boy is my escaped patient. Please, hand him over before I'm forced to take drastic measures."

If his back wasn't already against Shark, Astral would've taken an unconscious step back into him when the giant wolf growled. "Do you think I'm an idiot, or do you just need your eyes checked?"

Slightly startled, Astral couldn't help but grin. Typical Shark.

Dr. Phrixus bit his lip as the wolf snarled and lowered itself onto its haunches in preparation to pounce on them. Before it could launch however, the scientist held out his hand in front of it without breaking eye contact with them. "No. Not until we know for certain Hamartia has Number 201. This situation is _too_ much of a temptation for it if we act now- and I won't risk it playing with us once more." The next words he said were clearly for them. "Since we will be meeting again, I see no reason not to properly introduce myself. I am Phrixus Sadalsuud of Cats Eyes Research Facilities. Though, if you two want to just call me Phrixus, that's fine, too."

"I don't give a damn what you are called." Shark coolly said. "Why are after this guy."

Phrixus gave them a smile before he turned and walked back up the stairs. "I thought you didn't give a damn, Squirt?"

Giving them its best impression of a grin, Enyo followed the scientist, each of its steps trotting behind him laughingly.

"Jerk." Shark said before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the hallway. "And you! Shouldn't you be blue and tangible?"

"You figured it out, huh? What gave me away? The ears?" Astral joked, realizing what Shark meant. "We think it was the new Number card, but we're not sure."

"Let me guess, Number 201-" The sound in Astral's ears went out for a moment as a loud roar shook the ground under their feet. When they looked down the hall after it had passed, Shark cursed.

A giant cat stood three doors down from them. There was something weird about it though. Its coat was a purplish red magenta and its eyes were the same color only vividly darker like cut garnet.

"Oh! Did I forget to mention that Enyo is Barian?" Jerking their heads over to the door, Phrixus was leaning on its frame. Astral was beginning to get real sick of seeing that smile on his face all the time. "Hamartia has her trained not to attack unless he has one of you painted with Astral world essence. So you two might live to escape her with nothing more than a scratch."

"Why you-. Astral _is_ from Astral world!" Shark snapped.

"That won't be a problem right now. The Original Number is currently human. So his scent will be, too," Phrixus' rolled his eyes. Pulling out a clean cloth, he began wrapping up his hand. "Sheesh. A little blood in the water, and you're trying to bite me, too."

The giant cat screeched suddenly, drawing all of their attention to her. Laying on the ground nearby was a shoe, and Enyo was snarling at whoever was standing in the open doorway next to her.

"Rio!" Shark exclaimed, sounding more mad than shocked.

The said person's head popped out of the opened doors. Elevator doors, Astral realized too late. "Don't just stand there! The others should be opening any minute now!"

_PING!_

Before Astral could make a sound, Shark grabbed his arm and pulled him into the nearest elevator that opened and hit the second floor button. "Astral! Take Rio and find Yuma and use Zexal to break down this field while I deal with the mad scientist and his kitten."

"Wait! Ah…" Just as he was about to warn Shark about what happened to Shingetsu, the doors closed on him.

Glancing at the buttons, he saw the whole grid lite up and then out repeatedly. Finally, the third floor button lit. Checking to see if it would take him to another floor, he hit another one. It went out. "Uh? I wonder if that scientist has anything to do with this..."

Well, there was nothing Astral could do about it now. Rio was going to have to go on without him. For now, he was searching for Yuma alone. But what to do from there, even he was having trouble figuring out.

* * *

The third floor was awfully quiet. The clocks seemed to be louder each time they passed by one. And each minute that passed made her more and more worried about an attack. "Ouch! Kotori, that's my foot you keep stepping on."

"Sorry," Kotori quickly apologized. Having accidently wandered into Yuma once again while looking over her shoulder, she stepped off to the side a little. "I still don't get it, though. Why did Hamartia just…leave?"

"I don't know. Maybe this is just another one of his mind games…" When Yuma stopped dead in his tracks, she did, too. The nearest clock struck two. "Where exactly did you find that fawn anyway?"

Up ahead of them, the strange girl stopped humming and made a 180 heel-turn within her next step. For a split second, Kotori swore she caught a splash of sapphire-blue in her right eye. "That's a long story, I'm afraid." Tilting her head, she frowned for a moment before looking down at the fawn. "You better go now, Hidari. If Enyo finds you here, she could connect you to grandmother." The strange girl suddenly, somberly said. "And I don't think grandmother wants that."

Letting out a little neigh, the fawn hopped out of her arms and galloped out of sight just as Yuma's D-Gazer went off. "Y-Yuma-kun! Hurry and f-find Astral! Quick!"

"Shingetsu!" Both of them exclaimed in shock when they heard who it was. As Yuma answered him, Kotori had to squint in order to make out their friend's constantly fading face.

"Shingetsu, where are you?! Is Astral with you?!"

"He got away w-while Phrixus drugged me with this red stuff," Shingetsu explained, his voice slurring as if he was tired. "If it enters the bloodstream of anyone, it will knock them out. Phrixus only has one left and he plans on using it on Astral-"

Black and white dancing lines broke up Shingetsu's image. "Shingetsu!"

"Don't bother. I've already broken the connection." Startled, Kotori almost didn't notice Yuma's firm grip when he took her hand as he stepped in front of her protectively as Hamartia walked out from around a corner. The strange girl had vanished as if she'd never existed. "If you truly don't have magic like your little dove says, then that Joker card lives up to its reputation. Unfortunately, your little coyote's antics have done little to curb my anger. Worsened it actually. I'll be skinning him next time I see him, I think."

"You mean you went after Shingetsu?" Yuma's back suddenly stiffened. When his grip on her hand tightened even more, Kotori returned it with as much comfort as she could. "_Please_, let her go. Kotori has done nothing to deserve whatever you are about to do to me."

A slow, slow smile crossed Hamartia's lips and once again revealing those canines of his.

Bringing up his thumb and forefinger, the Barian tracker made a short, sharp whistle that cut into Kotori's ears. But neither of them let go of each other's hands. Not until a panel of ice slide across the floor and broke their connection. Tasting blood in her mouth as she bit her lower lip to keep from screaming, Kotori clutched her burning palm and waited for the pain to recede.

"Enyo, my dear, keep in mind you are to play with your toy, not kill it. Yet."

Realizing that whoever the tracker was talking to had to be behind her, Kotori slowly looked over her shoulder. And immediately backed into the cold wall by what see saw.

"Kotori!" She heard Yuma scream as the she-wolf took off towards her, pearly-white fangs flashing with brief light as the jaws opened. Instinct took over. She moved out of the way at the last second when it sprang at her and ran like lightning down the hall and around a corner.

_'C'mon, Kotori. Think! There has to be a way to lose this, well, bitch!'_ She mentally scolded as an open door appeared up ahead. _'That's it!'_

Running behind the door, she waited for the giant wolf to run in after her. Instead, Enyo stopped in front of it and stared at her.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Kotori moaned with a stomp of her foot. "Don't you get it? You are supposed to keep _running_ so I can slam the door on your head and knock you out. Then, I can slip pass you, shove your furry rear into the room, and lock you in."

The she-wolf opened her mouth in a wolfish grin. "Great, why did I get the bitch with a brain?!"

"Smart, eh? Let's see if her reflexes are just as good!" Enyo screamed out a sharp whine as a doctor's reflex hammer struck her head. Snarling, she turned her fangs towards her offender. "Ha! I'm thinking she's still just as slow as earlier."

Wondering who her helper was, Kotori looked up and was surprised to see Rio. "Thanks, Rio! But why are you here?"

"Reginald somehow managed to get his finger stuck in his duel-disk, and we came here when we couldn't get it out. Then I had a vision," as she explained, Rio rested the staff to an IV drip she was carrying around onto her shoulder. "He stayed downstairs earlier to stop this thing and a scientist from getting Astral. Only, this thing messed with the elevators we escaped in. I don't know where they are now."

"Oh, no worries! We know!" A ceiling tile fell to the floor. Kotori felt sorry for Dr. Phrixus as he gracelessly fell to the ground, arms flailing and screaming as he did, and landed face first onto the floor behind the wolf. Only briefly though. "Ouch."

"I really shouldn't ask this, but are you okay?"

"I'm in a hospital? What better place to fall in?" Dr. Phrixus joked as he stood and dusted himself off. "Physically, I'm fine. Mentally… Well, Enyo can help me take care of you lovely ladies before I go after that envoy. At least then I won't be tempted to experiment on him once he's captured."

"Experiment?! That's _sick_!" Kotori angrily exclaimed. Since she couldn't walk over and slap him without getting mauled by the wolf, she squeezed the doorknob in her hand as if it was Dr. Phrixus' neck. And then it hit her. "That pin _is_ Cat's Eyes insignia. You _are_ a scientist working with the Barians."

"If that's true," Rio's icy gaze seemed to be trying to wither Dr. Phrixus' olive green when she met it. "My brother told me about the World Carnival Tournament. Why would the Barians want a human scientist on their side after Dr. Faker failed to destroy the Astral world?"

"You took one glance at the scorpion's stinger and feared it." Dr. Phrixus said with a smile. Glancing at Enyo, he added. "And, seeing as how your friend is up against a Barian Tracker, I can see why. But now that Hamartia knows the truth, he's out for blood. And, to my dismay, I have no choice but do the same."

"What do you mean by that?!" Rio shifted the in her grip a little.

Walking over to her, Dr. Phrixus kneeled down and began scratching Enyo's head. Her ears flattened, but she otherwise leaned into his hand. "You see, my workplace has strict standards. I have to get rid of people whom I catch breaking into our systems. Such as the vixen I found trying to sneak into my coup while I was examining her computer files this morning."

"So if we don't cooperate…."

"I have to put down the fox before it takes another hen." Dr. Phrixus clarified. Enyo made a low, happy howl and he softly bopped her on the head for it. Not enough to hurt her, but it got the message across. "My secrets aren't the kind you flaunt. Not unless you want the kind of chaos even Hamartia fears."

"You're no better than Hamartia then!" Rio snapped.

"Hamartia's a tracker. His job is to capture his target without being noticed. He understands his limits perfectly well." Dr. Phrixus replied. "And I know him well enough to take that as a compliment instead of an insult."

As Rio gritted her teeth in frustration, Kotori knew what her choice would be. "I'll come. But only if you don't kill Kari!"

End of Chapter 8

Phrixus, you are gonna regret saying those last two lines so much next chappy lol….

First off, _many_ _many_ apologizes for taking so long to update! I had personal issues that distracted me to the point where I had trouble focusing on writing and that's the reason why I haven't really updated in so long. And that kinda led to me doubting this chapter and it's worth an awful lot. I had probably scrapped and re-did it quite a few times…. I won't go into detail though about the personal stuff because of comfort reasons. (not to mention the fact that my aunt figured out what was going on when she overheard a small detail and created this HUGE fuss, and I don't want that here when I came out perfectly fine. So please no questions.)

Since bitch is the technical term for a female canine, you can take that however you want. ;)

As for the strange girl, let's just say she's part of a minor trilogy theme that's finally beginning to bubble to the surface and leave it at that for now ;)

If you'd like to review, please feel free to! :)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Playing with Fire

"Kotori!"

Bright orange light blinded Yuma's vision. With no other choice, he was forced to bring up his arms and close his eyes before he could see her fate. Within the heat and darkness, he felt a hand grab onto his shirt and toss him across the hall into an open room. Gasping when he landed painfully on his shoulder, Yuma opened his eyes and glared at Hamartia.

"_Only a Fool would dare to play with a Cat," chimed a voice from the back of his mind._

"I am a trickster by trade, some would argue, by nature." With each step towards him, Yuma's heart started to pound harder. But he was frozen to the spot. There was something off about the Barian this time, something more… _direct_. The wicked, curved dagger he pulled out said it all. "And you have proven to be a trickster yourself, Dark Colt. But instead of playing the Trickster's Game with me, you decided to insult me. And I don't play games with insults of this nature."

Recalling last night's battle, Yuma reached for his extra deck. And his heart stopped when he didn't find it.

_ "And there's nothing you can do," another chimed, taking laughing delight in his dilemma. _

"I'm afraid I have it at the moment, Key-Keeper." Hamartia darkly said, pulling back his petticoat to reveal to deck case hanging off his belt. "Originally, you would have kept the Numbers and the Key since we have found a way to keep Astral Envoys alive without such things. But you won't be needing it neither anymore, now it will you?"

_"There is one way. Remember, Key-Keeper?" A third taunted. The voices chorused together with cold iron. "Fight!"_

As the black, iridescent purple blade came down, someone screamed out Yuma's name and a familiar surge of energy flowed through his veins. Instantly understanding what was going on, he allowed it to reshape his body like Time would a species over the course of millions of years.

When Zexal was finished, he immediately lunged forward onto one knee and grabbed Hamartia's wrist while pulling Astral's body back towards him. Relaxing his jaw, Yuma sighed once the tense moment was over and smiled at Hamartia's shocked expression. "Maybe I have a better apology than you think, if you let me say it."

Hamartia frowned thoughtfully and tilted his head, but otherwise sheathed his dagger and backed away.

Somehow knowing that Astral was with him, Yuma lifted his lax body and carried it over to a bench sitting in front of some windows. Gently setting it down, his eyebrows furrowed as the other's eyes finished closing. The left was the same artic blue as the right, only it was clear. _'What is going on with you Astral…'_

"Thank goodness. It doesn't appear to be harmed. For a moment, I could've sworn Hamartia's dagger was going to dig into its stomach…" Astral suddenly gave his body a weird, yet clearly confused look. "This is odd. I'm clearly here, but, that's me, too."

"I'm fine, too, you know." Yuma said, breaking the mood by pretending to be selfish. He was glad to see that Astral had been concerned about his new form after what he'd said in the waiting room earlier though. It had worried him after all. He couldn't resist smiling._ 'I knew you were enjoying being a human.'_

"I don't even understand how this happened." Yuma hummed questioningly, unsure of what he meant. "Zexal. It-"

"Putting aside my pride, I must say I'm impressed." Hamartia began, unknowingly cutting Astral off as he did. Lifting his head, Yuma turned it until he saw Hamartia out of the corner of his eye. "This survivor was able to find someone capable of unlocking the War-Ender. Considering the fact that that someone was a child with no magic, I must say is a disappointment. But I am still impressed enough to see you as a challenge."

The interest in the hunt was back in Hamartia's voice, Yuma realized. But whether it was safe to go toe-to-toe with him…

_ "Not a wolf? Oh, my. Oh, my. You may very well-"_

"What do you mean by survivor?" Yuma asked instead, pivoting on his heel until he was face-to-face to with the tracker. He'd rather listen to the tracker's words than the ones from his dream.

"A story for another time. Presently, how about you show me what kind of death-bringing this power holds." A hungry, warlike gleam flickered into life in Hamartia's eyes. And then the voices whispered their final reminder to him.

_"Fight. Fight with your gold fangs. You may die in the process because a Cat has claws that can swipe at its opponent more easily than a Wolf's. But, if you are to be a protector, you will not care….Now will you?"_

"He has our Numbers, doesn't he, Yuma? We can't use our Zexal weapons like we usually would," Astral said as he glanced down at his duel disk. Just like Yuma expected, his regular deck was there and waiting for him to draw.

_ 'No. But maybe there is another way…'_ Hoping his new plan didn't backfire on him, Yuma decided to make Hamartia an offer. "Tracker! Let's play a new game. If we win, Astral gets to stay with me."

"Oh? You do realize that this will be a one-time bet. I can't make a permanent promise." Hamartia reminded him with a quirk of his eyebrow. The light in his lilac eyes held an excited gleam despite the caution he offered in returned. The toy was out, the Cat's attention caught. There was no turning back now.

"Yuma!"

"I'm aware." He replied, ignoring Astral at first. Then, so Astral would understand what he was doing, he said, "But I would rather go down fighting than let you chase us down like bunnies and lock Astral away."

"Yuma…" Astral trailed off and looked at the tracker thoughtfully. "That's why they ambushed us here. It's all a game to them..." When those heterochromia orbs turned back to him, he knew what was coming. And anxiously awaited for those words like a war dog about to be let loose on the enemy. "Yuma, draw and win this duel!"

Doing so, Yuma smirked when he saw the Zexal weapon. "Let's show him the real flow of battle, Astral!"

"Agreed!"

His fear momentarily hidden behind his courage, Yuma summoned Lightning Blade into its sword form. The appearance of the white tiger sword brought a battle-hungry half smile to Hamartia's lips. "Under Durbe's request, I have been safekeeping Cat's Eyes from any threats within my power- an easy but boring job I've found. Do not disappoint me, Zexal. Prove to me that you are a challenge!"

"Gladly!" Determined not to kill him, Yuma aimed his blade for Hamartia's arm and dashed forward. _'Even if he is evil, I won't kill him. Not if I don't have to.'_

_ "Murdering someone is not a feeling I want to know, either_,_ if I don't have to."_ Astral agreed, overhearing his thoughts before falling back into formation.

As Yuma slashed Lightning Blade down towards Hamartia's shoulder, he realized the tracker hadn't made a move. He got his answer a second later, when a wall of ice crystalized and blocked his attack. Backing off, the barrier quickly vaporized, leaving the floor clear of any water. "Movement and sound make it easier to control my spells. My skill is advanced enough, however, for it to not be a necessity."

"That's no fun." Yuma said as he pondered for a way to break his defense. Hamartia surprised him however.

"I agree, and I usually don't use those methods because of it. But that's not why I stopped your attack. I want to give us room to play first." Bringing his pointer finger and thumb to his mouth, the tracker made another a high-pitched whistle. This time though, the sound echoed around them.

"That sound is _terrible_!" Astral commented as Yuma covered their pulsating eardrums. He jumped when he heard shattering ice singing around them. "What was that?!"

"There. I eliminated the barriers. Not that they were of much use. But your little coyote can explain that to you later," Hamartia said, bringing their attention back to him. "You can try that again if you want to, too. Feel free to test me."

"We shouldn't charge at him again. Not until we know for certain he won't pull anymore blockades," Astral advised. Thinking along the same train of thought, Yuma nodded. Burying the sword's point into the ground, he backed up again, summoned his Phoenix Bow and aimed the arrow at the tracker.

Instead of blocking, Hamartia dodged the arrow and, within the one fluid motion, pulled an ice dagger out of the air with his hand and thrust it towards him. Yuma barely managed to sidestep out of its way before it sunk into his chest. "Sh-!"

"Yuma! Some distance between us and him would be good right now!" Astral said, sounding a bit panicky. Snatching up Lightning Blade, Yuma quickly re-absorbed it and began a half-circle around the tracker.

"So, long-range, is it? I hope you're better at it than you were at close." Hamartia teased, a half-smirk playing on his lips as he snapped his fingers. As expected, a fireball appeared.

"Yuma! That's it! If one of our arrows hits that wisp…" Catching on to Astral's train of thought, he smiled and notched an arrow.

"Good idea!" Reaching his exit, Yuma turned in midstride and aimed at the tracker. And then hesitated upon noticing a dangerous detail. _'Astral's body is in the line of fire. If Hamartia dodges, my attack could piece it...'_

Relaxing the bowstring, he ignored the clueless Astral's baffled question and darted down the hall, trusting Hamartia to follow him as he put some distance between them and the vacant shell. Once they reached a waiting room, Yuma turned and readied the arrow again.

"Your compassion is admirable, but you just made a fatal mistake. By moving us away from my target, you've allowed me to act without holding back." Hamartia said as he came to a stop in front of the doorway and .

"What," Yuma gritted his teeth, but otherwise didn't regret his decision. But now he was left with a new problem. How was going to defeat Hamartia?

* * *

_'Don't prove me wrong, Tracker!'_ Phrixus desperately thought as he listened to the faint sounds of battle. Figuring out an explanation for the destruction was something he _really_ didn't want to do later.

"Yuma…" Looking down at Kotori's worried face, he pitied the dear.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine. He _has_ escaped Hamartia before. This time should be no problem." He reassured as they came to Miss. Tsukumo's room, though how his. His hands clenched inside his pockets when he saw the ice coating the door. "Hamartia, you are a _pain_ sometimes."

Turning to the wolf, he said, "Enyo, can you thaw it out. We can't get to our young lady friend otherwise."

"She can use magic, too?" Kotori asked. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he guided her away from the door so the energy beast didn't sear her with the supercharged energy. The other girl followed them, though, it was probably more for her friend's safety than anything else.

"Nope. Energy beasts are more... Well, think of them as demons with the ability to change the temperature around them." Phixus suggested as the air around them turned so hot he regretted wearing the doctor disguise. As the ice melted, he directed spoke to the wolf-clothed beast. "Enyo, you don't have to stay in this form you know. The translucence field can support you without the collar's help."

"So in other words she's a Barian who can manipulate energy," Rio said as Enyo smugly trotted over to the wall space next to the door, lazily yawned, and curled up for a nap. Phrixus envied the beast. "Why are you helping the Barians anyway?"

"My personal reasons are private." He answered, placing a hand on the door. "Remember what we discussed now. Say one word of where my loyalties lie, and I will ask Enyo here to kill your friend."

The girls glared at him, but nodded. Seeing that, Phrixus couldn't help but joke with them a little. "Ah, such good little girls. Maybe you'll each get a lollipop after this is over with."

Ignoring the sour looks, Phrixus put on a neutral expression and slowly opened the door until he saw Miss. Tsukumo. The redness around her ice-encased wrist made it clear that she done a lot of tugging since Hamartia's departure. "Oh, dear! And here I thought I'd seen the worst..."

"Never mind that now, doc. Just get me out of this so I can _karate chop that_ _bastard's ass back into Hell_!" Kari roared.

"U-um," he stammered, not quite sure either way whether it was safe to free her or not. "I understand that you're upset, but maybe we should focus on calming down, first…"

"Dr. Phrixus is right, Kari. Raging around like a bull won't help much," Kotori reluctantly agreed. "Hamartia has magic to fight back with. We need to think things through before we challenge him to a fight."

"Fine," Kari grumbled, finally relaxing enough for Phrixus to feel that she won't be a hazard. Pulling out a reflex hammer from the room's cupboard, he began tapping on the ice around her wrist. Luckily, it was already beginning to thaw. And, now that he was closer, he could see still-drying tears around her bright red eyes. "So where have you been this entire time?"

"Well, I was swept up by the nurses. Apparently one of the codes had been triggered, but no one was in their right damn mind to tell me which while the hospital was being evacuated. I had thought you five were safe, too, until I checked the reports an hour ago. When I realized all of you were missing, I came back as fast as I could." Phrixus told them, having come up with story earlier.

"I want to say you took your sweet time, but being a journalist, I've seen the craziness that goes on during those kinds of things. I'm glad you came back, though. You can watch Kotori for me as I search for my brother and his friends." She replied as she cleared her vision with her free hand. The over protective sibling only paused to give him a determined you-better-back-down look. "And don't even try to talk me out of it!"

"Um, something tells me that would be nearly impossible." He said, feeling a drop of sweat slide down his brow. As the ice around Kari's wrist finally shattered, the whole building shook, bringing all three of them to their knees. 'Damn! What is going on-? Wait? Is Enyo-?'

Standing, Phrixus fought to walk as he made his way to the door. Enyo was gone.

* * *

"Yuma! Shield!" Astral shouted in frustration just before Yuma was tossed over the side of a secretary's desk by a fireball. "How many times do I have to say it?!"

"_Damn_ it!" Yuma growled, his grip on the Bow tightening as an ice dagger flew past his ear. "Astral, I _know_ but…I _can't_ drop my bow now!"

"But under these circumstances, we need defense- _Yuma, look out!_"

And then he felt the worse agony he'd ever felt. Something, what he could only describe as four razor-edged blades of fire dipped in electricity, cut into his side and sent him crashing into the fileing cabinet next to him. "_Augh_!"

"_Yuma_!"

"I'm fine," he choked out even though his side was screaming at him. "I feel like a gong, but I'm fine."

"I doubt that will continue to be the case with Enyo standing there. Zexal's properties, though, have absorbed most of her attack. But I suggest taking a more cautious approach now." Lifting his head enough to see it, Yuma cursed under his breath. Out of one corner, he could see three claw marks running horizontally along his side, though, they weren't as they deep as they'd felt like during the impact. The fourth was most likely was absorbed like Astral said. Gingerly, he raised a finger and tried not to hiss as he touched the edge of the farthest one, resting just above his hip.

Eyes moving over towards the direction of the attack, he understood what Astral meant about being more cautious. A giant wolf stood at the other end of the small compartment, making it look smaller than it already was. It sat, jaw closed, waiting patiently in front of him with its cool, moonlight yellow eyes watching his every move. Staring at them, he wished he had been smashed through the wall and not just into the cabinet. At least then they won't be stuck in such a small room together.

"Enyo!" Snapping his head up to the desktop, he saw Hamartia kneeling on its surface and looking down at the wolf like a parent who found a misbehaving child amusing instead of offensive. Bringing up a finger and wiggling it, the tracker tsked her. "Stand down. This fight is mine alone."

The wolf flashed her teeth at the tracker in disgruntlement before jumping up and over the desk with flattened ears. The look she had given him gave Yuma a sudden chill as he recognized it as the one who attacked Kotori. Now he wished he had shot her with a flaming arrow.

"I apologize. She's her namesake, especially when she senses a battle going on," Hamartia said, turning to his lilac gaze to him. "Now, on your feet so I can knock you back down. Or should I kill you where you lay?"

Struggling to his knees, Yuma picked up his Bow. Upon hearing the wood creak, he looked up just in time to see an ice dagger being charged at his heart. Without thinking, he hastily shifted the Bow so the cold weapon ended up embedded in the stave instead, severing some strands in his string as it did. "_Hey_! Can't you wait a minute!?"

"This is a battle, Dark Colt. Not a duel. Here it's either strike or reveal your throat." Worrying his dagger free, Hamartia backed off and summoned more levitating ice daggers.

"How irritating. His bloodlust is going to cost him his mission if he ends up killing us." Astral replied, a rare growl showing up in his tone. Not finding the tracker's sudden love for- well, whatever it was- entertaining, Yuma had to agree. Fuelled by the new adrenaline seeing Kotori's attacker had given him, Yuma slapped his hand on the counter and jumped over it.

Ignoring his throbbing side, Yuma raised. "Sorry, Astral, but we need to head back to your body. Maybe Hamartia will show some restraint then."

"I understand. Now, hurry! If my body's presence is enough to slow him down, you might be able to survive this." Astral urged, noticing

Nodding, Yuma ran as fast as he could to the room where they'd left it at. He had just about made it to the doorway when a fireball exploded in front of him.

"Damn!" Notching an arrow, he turned and aimlessly shot it. Hitting the midpoint between him and Hamartia, a fountain of fire shot up as it struck the floor. The cracks it left behind gave Yuma an idea. "That's it!"

"Yuma!" Astral called expectantly, having shared the same one.

"I'm on it!" Hastily notching another arrow, he aimed it at the same spot and focused on building the firepower he estimated it would need to split open the same spot. Releasing it, his eye automatically closed as the string snapped and smacked him across his burned cheek. No doubt the smarting sting would welt later, but he sported a sassy smile anyway.

As the flaming arrow collided with the floor, it was instantly swallowed up by roaring smoke and debris. Bringing up his arms and falling to his knees, Yuma was sure he was going to lose his hold on the ground when the shockwave passed. When he opened his eyes, he was instantly shocked by the destruction he had caused.

Fissures covered the floor around the impacted area, doors were either smashed in or completely torn off their hinges and hiding in the rooms. Glass fragments sparkled with sunlight alone now that the lights were shattered. Looking up at the tracker, he felt like collapsing when he saw that Hamartia was still standing, if barely.

"Well done- for a non-magic user. It's been a while since I've had this much trouble breaking in a colt," Hamartia said, brushing off his clothes of any glass and floor bits. "Maybe I can have some fun with you after all."

Yuma gritted his teeth, but even then he could feel his lips trembling. Just when he thought Hamartia was done for, the Barian was brushing it off as if it was nothing but a bee string.

"Yuma, the field's collapsing. If we are going to take out the floor, we have to do it _now_." Astral gravely informed him. Glancing up at the ceiling, he saw a few specks of its natural color winking at him.

Re-summoning his phoenix bow, Yuma stood and aimed it at the same spot as before. He released the arrow just as Hamartia was summoning something else.

Like a breath of air tapping a card pyramid, the floor suddenly ripped open and expanded within a second of being struck. Yuma was sure he was going to need to run when it stopped a few inches from where he stood. Letting out a cough as the debris settled, he gave the tracker a triumphant smile. "Can't get us now!"

Hamartia smirked at them. "Well done, Dark Colt. But I still have the upper hand."

"How? You're all the way over there." The tracker pointed at something behind him. Following it his eyes widened. Astral's body wasn't there he left it, and he could hear the sound of an engine struggling to fire up somewhere outside.

"I'll let you win this one, Key-Keeper," was all Yuma really heard as he grabbed the edge of the hole he'd created, swung down to the second floor, and shattered the windows with a wildly shot arrow. Barely stopping to see where he was jumping, he recklessly leapt onto the roof of the dark blue van with the Cat's Eyes insignia on it.

_"YUMA!"_ Astral angrily shouted at him as Zexal fell apart. "That was stupid!"

"Do you see a latch?" He asked, hoping that Astral had activated their telepathy afterwards.

_"Ugh. My head."_ Astral said at first. _"Hold on."_ There was a pause. _"Yes, there is! I'll see if it'll open."_

Jumping off the van, Yuma made his way over to the back. When one of the doors opened, Astral slumped against it, looking very ill. _"Something's not right. I feel like I'm falling asleep…Only forced…"_

"You've been drugged," Yuma said, recalling Shingetsu's warning. Climbing into the van, he made to help Astral out of the vehicle. However, something exploded against the side its metal side, tossing them and the van into the rushing river next to them. As they were being swept away by the current, Yuma was barely able to grab Astral's hand. Flailing his other hand blindly around, he managed to grab onto the end of a pipe as the current dragged them under.

_"Astral, don't let go!"_

_"I'm…trying."_ Yuma's heart stopped, along with a segment of time, when Astral's fingers slipped. He lunged forward, hoping to snatch Astral's hand back up. His fingertips missed by a fraction of an inch. _"_YUMA_!" _

Before Yuma could let go of the pipe and rescue him, someone grabbed his wrist and jerked him out of the river. "Oh, thank goodness! I thought you were going to be half-drowned when I pulled you out."

"Astral's still in there-!" A splash cut him off. Looking down the rushing river, he saw Shingetsu breaking the surface with a half-conscious Astral. Both of them were desperately fighting to keep their heads above the water as it pushed them out of sight.

"Kotori, Rio, stay here with Yuma and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid! I'm getting the car so I can get ahead and pull them out before they drown," Kari ordered before racing into the parking lot to retrieve her car.

"No! We can't!" A pair of hands rested on his shoulders and gave them a light squeeze.

"It won't help Astral any if we drown in the process, too, Yuma. Kari will find him." Kneeling down, Kotori rested her head on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "We can always count on her."

"Shark, is on his ride searching for them, too. I doubt Reginald will let us down either." Rio said with a smile and a wink. The attempts at cheering him up brought a smile to Yuma's face, but it quickly fell.

Letting out a shiver, he wiped away the tears stinging his eyes and hugged himself. A blanket appeared over them. Looking over her head to thank whoever gave them it, he almost choked on what he already was saying. "Thanks-"

Phrixus gave him a sympathetic smile. "Relax. Now that the battle's over, I see no reason to fight pointlessly until the next. It's unsportsmanly anyway."

"And we should trust you because?" Rio challenged suspiciously.

Dr. Phrixus looked up at the broken windows. Following it, he saw that Hamartia was speaking to someone, but he couldn't see who it was or hear what he was saying. "Because I can't waste any more time with you three. I have a daughter I need to pick up."

"What does she look like?" Kotori asked.

"She has pink hair with teal green eyes. I like to tease her about being a sapphire princess because she has secular heterochromia in her right eye." Phrixus said, giggling at the thought. Seeing the look on his and Kotori's faces, a frown appeared on his forehead. "Ah, I see. I better get going then." Raising a hand, he smiled happily at them. "Tootles."

"I kinda wish he hadn't left." Yuma mumbled faintly as he walked off. Touching his side, he found blood on his fingers when he brought it out.

"Dr. Phrixus, wait!" He heard Kotori scream before his vision went unexpectedly black out.

End of Chapter 9

Okay, considering the fact that I still feel guilty about leaving you guys hanging for so long, I will say this: No, I did not kill off Astral. No really. I assure you. I'm not fond of killing off characters anyway, and next chapter will be more… 'calm'.

In case anyone is curious about Zexal's new ability…..yeah, I kinda decided to improvise that part. It seems like it has _some _absorbability judging from Yuma's first duel with Arito anyway. Astral didn't show any signs of illness at the time while in that form, but then again it's hard to tell when it hasn't been used that often and the Barian fields only thrice. So it's a guess at best.

It just seemed a whole lot better than what would have happened logically anyways…big cat, big claws, small human….the odds never in your favor with those numbers I'm afraid *cringes*...So better than nothing right? Yeah, I thought so.

Oh! One last thing! In order to keep up the 'innocence' feel of the Zexal II arc season 1, I'm going to try to keep Vector's façade real so there won't be any p.o.v. from him in part 1.

(note: if I babbled at all during this author segment, I apologize. It's really early in the morning and will be busy the rest of the weekend. Figured I'd risk that than make you guys wait longer xD)

Well, that's it for now and extra apologies on the long wait!

By the way, there will be an update next week! I can guarantee ya that much ;)


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